After the InSight lander had trouble drilling a sophisticated thermometer into the Martian surface, a Plan B also didn't work, and the instrument ended up backing itself out of the ground.
NASA's six-wheeled rover landed on the red planet in January 2004 for what was billed as a 90-day mission. The plucky robot was still going until a dust storm on Mars last summer killed it.
Space scientists on Earth have improvised a tool on the Mars rover to help them figure out how a giant mountain on the Red Planet came to be. Their surprising conclusion: It's likely windswept sand.
There's a new probe nearing Mars. After Monday's tricky landing, NASA's InSight spacecraft is to deploy a sensitive seismometer and temperature probe to let scientists explore the planet's interior.
Scientists say they've found what appears to be a briny lake near the south pole on Mars. It's possible that some kind of microbial life once lived in the lake.
With the sun entirely blocked out by dust, the solar-powered rover has presumably fallen asleep to wait out the storm. NASA scientists say they are "very concerned," but that they hope for the best.
Scientists can't say whether there is, or ever was, life on the Red Planet. But two Martian rock samples contained organic molecules — which contain carbon, the chemical element central to life.
The InSight Mars lander was successfully launched on Saturday morning, by an Atlas V rocket taking off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will gather data on Mars' interior.
The NASA mission is set to launch Saturday morning. The InSight spacecraft will land in the Elysium Planitia to listen for "Marsquakes" and learn more about what Mars is made of.
Researchers have successfully tested a new nuclear reactor in Nevada that could provide reliable energy for long-duration manned missions to the moon and to Mars.
The heat shield, made of material that is as light as balsa wood but can withstand temperatures of nearly 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, broke during testing earlier this month.
NASA is building a new space-based laser communication that will allow live, high-definition video from Mars and beyond — something that's not possible with standard radio equipment.
Musk's successful rocket launch is a step on the ambitious road to Mars; as with our adventurous ancestors, where we might go seems to be limited only by our imagination, says Marcelo Gleiser.
The size and accessibility of these ice sheets, as well as the fact that they're made of relatively clean water, could be an important resource for astronauts traveling to Mars.
Take five minutes of your day, watch this amazing video of the birth of a new island in Tonga, and let its story and science knock you to the floor, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
"Space Policy Directive 1," which Trump signed Monday, sees Mars as the ultimate destination. But analysts wonder whether money will follow to support the plan.
Mars is not compelling as a long-term human destination, says guest blogger Amanda Hendrix. But there's a place in our solar system where conditions are right: Saturn's Moon Titan.
The job posting has elicited headlines about how the space agency is seeking a person to defend Earth from aliens. But it's really more about microorganisms than little green men.
NASA plans to send people to the Red Planet in the 2030s. In the meantime, a remote location in southern Utah serves as a non-NASA training ground for the Mars-minded.
Scientists say the rocks lend weight to a theory that life on Earth originated, as Darwin wrote, "in some warm little pond" on land, suggesting we should look for it in similar environments on Mars.
Starting Thursday, six people will spend eight months in a dome on Mauna Loa volcano to study what living on Mars might be like. The mission is co-sponsored by the University of Hawaii and NASA.
