News Archive / Tagged: Mars

• ‘Ingenuity-class’ drones added to Mars sample return mission

  Derek RichardsonJuly 27th, 2022

  NASA has changed the planned architecture for its Mars Sample Return Program, ditching a fetch rover in favor of two small helicopters.

• Study suggests digging down to uncover evidence of life on Mars

  Cullen DesforgesJuly 23rd, 2022

  A study conducted by NASA suggests that in order to find evidence of life on Mars, exploration missions might have to start looking deep below the surface.

• InSight Mars lander nears end of life as dust coats solar panels

  Cullen DesforgesMay 23rd, 2022

  NASA’s Martian quake hunter InSight is reaching the end of its mission as dust on the spacecraft’s solar panels are causing it to slowly lose power.

• Winter is coming for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter

  Cullen DesforgesMay 11th, 2022

  The end could potentially be near for NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter as Martian winter and dust storms wreak havoc on the drone's vital systems.

• NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter logs 25th flight

  Cullen DesforgesApril 18th, 2022

  NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter logged its 25th flight as it works to catch up with the Perseverance rover, which is heading toward an ancient river delta.

• NASA expanding heat shield technology this fall

  Cullen DesforgesMarch 10th, 2022

  As humanity prepares to face the extreme challenges of deep space, NASA engineers are hard at work researching new and innovative ways to safely land large payloads, including astronauts, on Mars.

• Lockheed Martin to build a rocket to return Mars samples

  Theresa CrossFebruary 15th, 2022

  NASA awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build a rocket to return Mars rock samples currently being collected by the agency’s Perseverance rover.

• Liquid water may exist beneath Mars’ south polar ice cap

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 14th, 2022

  Bright reflections detected in 2018 by the Mars Express orbiter could indicate the presence of liquid water lakes beneath Mars south polar ice cap.

• Ingenuity Mars Helicopter completes 15th flight

  Cullen DesforgesNovember 13th, 2021

  NASA’s Mars Helicopter known as Ingenuity has begun to traverse its way back to the famed Wright Brothers Field on the Martian surface after completing its 15th successful flight.

• Mars helicopter tests higher rotor speed on latest flight

  Cullen DesforgesNovember 1st, 2021

  NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity successfully made its 14th flight, testing a higher rotor speed in anticipation upcoming seasonal changes.

• First Perseverance rover Mars rock samples suggest Jezero Crater was once habitable

  Laurel KornfeldSeptember 23rd, 2021

  The first Martian rock samples collected by NASA's Perseverance rover for eventual return to Earth suggest landing site Jezero Crater harbored water for a long enough time to be habitable for microbial life.

• Ingenuity makes 12th flight from the Martian surface

  Matt HaskellAugust 23rd, 2021

  In yet another milestone, the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity made its 12th flight from the Red Planet’s surface on Aug. 16.

• NASA seeks volunteers for Mars simulation

  Laurel KornfeldAugust 18th, 2021

  NASA is seeking a crew of four volunteers for a year-long Mars simulation starting in the fall of 2022, one of several year-long simulations of life on the Red Planet organized by the agency's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog.

• Results from Mars InSight lander show Mars has a molten center

  Theresa CrossAugust 2nd, 2021

  Using data collected by NASA's Mars InSight lander, which has been on the red planet since 2018, researchers have confirmed the planet's center to be molten.

• NASA’s InSight Mars lander solar panels cleared of some dust

  Cullen DesforgesJune 18th, 2021

  NASA’s InSight Mars lander cleaned some dust off its solar panels using a counter-intuitive technique, which resulted in a boost in power production.