When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Curiosity rover discovered what looks like coral on Mars. | Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA’s Curiosity rover has sent back intriguing images of what looks like a piece of coral on Mars. The strange object is in fact a small, light-colored, …
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One way scientists study planets is by looking at the minerals on their surfaces. They can tell us a lot about how worlds form. Scientists have been looking at unusual layers of iron sulfates on Mars, and these layers may represent a whole new mineral. Janice Bishop, a research scientist at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute and NASA …
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Nasa/Getty Images Happy 13th birthday to the Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. Ah, I remember when I turned 13: just starting to shave, voice cracking like ice in spring, and learning how to multitask so that my tiny nuclear reactor would last longer. Sadly, Curiosity will never …
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What a time to be alive, when you can pull a tiny computer from your pocket and gaze at a high-resolution panorama of Mars captured by a space-traveling robot. The image is a mosaic of 96 images taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover on May 26, 2025, that were carefully pieced together to create this 360° panoramic image. If you’re wondering …
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Scientists have a fairly good idea of what Mars’ surface looks like. But exactly what that surface is made up of is more of a mystery. Now, scientists believe they have discovered an entirely new mineral on Mars from an unusual layer of iron sulfate with a distinct spectral signature. In a Nature Communications paper published on August 5, astrobiologists …
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A new propulsion system developed by Russian scientists is generating buzz in the spaceflight community. According to researchers from Rosatom’s Troitsk Institute, a laboratory-tested magnetoplasma engine could make it possible to travel from Earth to Mars in as little as one to two months—a significant leap from today’s six- to nine-month missions. Continuous Acceleration, Not Combustion At the center of …
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NASA‘s Curiosity rover has sent back intriguing images of what looks like a piece of coral on Mars. The strange object is in fact a small, light-colored, wind-eroded rock, which the rover found inside the Red Planet’s Gale Crater on July 24 — but it looks remarkably similar to the reef-building creatures found in Earth’s oceans. A black and white …
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‘Float rocks,’ sand ripples, and vast distances are among the sights to see in the latest high-resolution panorama by the six-wheeled scientist. The imaging team of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took advantage of clear skies on the Red Planet to capture one of the sharpest panoramas of its mission so far. Visible in the mosaic, which was stitched together from …
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The rover made this abrasion on May 22 and performed proximity science (a detailed analysis of Martian rocks and soil) with its arm-mounted instruments two days later. The science team wanted to learn about Falbreen because it’s situated within what may be some of the oldest terrain Perseverance has ever explored — perhaps even older than Jezero Crater. Tracks from …
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It is a hot debate bracketed by cold hard facts: What are the best methods for handling Mars samples here on Earth? Planetary protection is a measure to safeguard our world from any contamination that could result from bringing home any potential biological material from the Red Planet that might lurk in bits of rocks, dust and atmospheric samples. Yes, …
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