This Is the Most Exciting Rock Ever Found on Mars
Mysterious “leopard spots” on a Martian rock could be evidence of extraterrestrial life—or of mere lifeless chemistry. Finding out the truth may require bringing the rock back to Earth
Astronauts Can Drink More Recycled Pee Than Ever, and You Can Still Catch the Plague
It’s been 55 years since the Apollo 11 mission, innovative “stillsuits” designed to recycle astronaut pee could enhance spacewalks, and a surprising case of the plague has occurred in Colorado.
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Mars Rocks Will Change How We See Life on Earth
Despite an eye-watering price tag, bringing pieces of Mars back to Earth promises to revolutionize our understanding of life’s place in the early solar system
SpaceX’s Starship Could Save NASA’s Beleaguered Mars Sample Return Mission
Facing budgetary pressure for its Mars Sample Return program, NASA has turned to private industry for ideas—perhaps with one specific company in mind
Mars Sample Return Is Still Worth Doing—Even If We Have to Wait
We should return samples from Mars to answer fundamental scientific
questions. That could mean stretching out the mission to keep NASA’s
other projects intact
Mars Mission’s Budget Problems Force NASA Layoffs
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is eliminating nearly 600 workers due to funding shortfalls for the space agency's Mars Sample Return mission
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Ends Mission on the Red Planet after 3 Years
NASA’s enterprising Mars helicopter and its remarkable 72 flights offered a new vision of planetary exploration
NASA Restores Contact with Mars Helicopter Ingenuity
After an unexpected communications dropout, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is back in business on Mars
NASA’s Troubled Mars Sample Mission Has Scientists Seeing Red
NASA’s Mars Sample Return program is the agency’s highest priority in planetary science, but projected multibillion-dollar overruns have some calling the plan a “dumpster fire”
Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They Grew Up on Real
Today’s Silicon Valley billionaires grew up reading classic American science fiction. Now they’re trying to make it come true, embodying a dangerous political outlook
The Mars Sample Return Mission Is at a Dangerous Crossroads
Mars Sample Return has always been an expensive, high-risk, high-reward project. But now, with realization of the mission’s actual cost and expanding timeline, Congress must commit to fully supporting the effort or risk tanking the rest of NASA’s planetary science program
Subterranean ‘Microbial Dark Matter’ Reveals a Strange Dichotomy
The genes of microbes living as deep as 1.5 kilometers below the surface reveal a split between minimalist and maximalist lifestyles