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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Pretty Picture: A Sweeping View of the Martian South Pole
The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft captured a sweeping view of Mars' south pole, along with a region extending northward to Hellas Basin.
IceBreaker: The Search for Life on Mars
The IceBreaker mission, proposed to NASA's Discovery program for low-cost missions, would seek out life on the northern plains of Mars.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Digs Marathon Valley Walkabout
Opportunity drove farther into Marathon Valley in August, dug into what appears to be a water-altered rock, and took a lot of picture postcards in what is turning out to be a distinctively different site from any that the mission has found since the robot field geologist landed in 2004.
Field Report from Mars: Sol 4119 - August 26, 2015
Opportunity is moving down into a large valley that cuts through the rim of Endeavour crater, into some interesting scenery.
Roving Mars—In Utah
Students gather in the desert to answer the University Rover Challenge, pushing the limits of the tech that will drive future Mars exploration.
The story behind Curiosity's self-portraits on Mars
How and why does Curiosity take self-portraits? A look at some of the people and stories behind Curiosity's
Curiosity update, sols 1012-1072: Sciencing back and forth below Marias Pass
Since my last update, Curiosity has driven back and forth repeatedly across a section of rocks below Marias pass. The rover finally drilled at a spot named Buckskin on sol 1060, marking the drill's return to operations after suffering a short on sol 911. Now the rover is driving up into Marias Pass and onto the Washboard or Stimson unit.
New Curiosity Self-Portrait
Amateur image processor Damia Bouic shares new stunning images from Curiosity—including a
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Enters Marathon Valley, Begins Walkabout
Nearly seven Earth years after Opportunity set its sites on Endeavour Crater, the rover cruised into Marathon Valley, the once-but-a-dream destination.
Field Report from Mars: Sol 4060 - June 26, 2015
Larry Crumpler gives an update on the Opportunity rover's activities in Spirit of St. Louis crater.
Help map Mars' south polar region!
The science team of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter wants your help in mapping out the weird and wonderful features of Mars' south polar region!
A New Way to Prepare Samples of Mars for Return to Earth
Mars 2020, NASA’s next and yet-to-be-named Mars rover, will be the first mission to collect and prepare samples of the martian surface for return to Earth. The rover's engineering team has proposed a new sampling caching strategy that differs from previous concepts in some interesting ways.
MarCO: Planetary CubeSats Become Real
NASA recently announced the Mars Cube One (MarCO) mission, which will fly two CubeSat spacecraft past Mars as part of its larger InSight Mars mission.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Phones Home after Conjunction Healthy, Ready to Rove
After three weeks of being in a communications blackout on the other side of the Sun during the Earth-Mars solar conjunction, Opportunity phoned home, reporting that she is healthy and ready to continue her mission.
Field Report from Mars: Sol 4039 - June 4, 2015
Larry Crumpler gives an update on the Opportunity rover and plans for its upcoming journey after solar conjunction.
Curiosity update, sols 978-1011: Into Marias Pass; ChemCam back in action; solar conjunction
It’s been an eventful few weeks for Curiosity on Mars. From sols 981 to 986, Curiosity’s human pilots tried and failed to drive the rover southward; but, retracing their steps to Logan's Run, they quickly found a way up and into a beautiful geological amphitheater named Marias Pass, where they will stay throughout Mars solar conjunction. They also returned ChemCam to normal operations.
Using Cardboard to Tour Mars
Former Mars rover driver Scott Maxwell uses Google Cardboard to take a tour of the Red Planet.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Tours Spirit of St. Louis Crater
Opportunity spent a mostly merry month of May on Mars touring Spirit of St. Louis Crater, stopping at science targets named in honor of Charles Lindbergh and the incredible flight he took 88 years ago.
Real-time sunset on Mars
Pause your life for six minutes and watch the Sun set....on Mars. Thank you, Glen Nagle, for this awe-inspiring simulation based on Curiosity's sol 956 sunset images.
Rover eyes on rock layers on Mars
Digging in to mission image archives yields similar images of layered Martian rocks from very different places.