Articles

The Downlink

Witness the Mars rover’s dramatic landing from every angle, and help make more exploration like this happen.

Jason Davis

All the best moments so far from NASA's Perseverance rover, all in one place.

The Downlink

With 3 new missions safely at Mars, we’re ready for the next era of exploration and discovery.

Kate Howells

The Red Planet once had liquid water on the surface, and conditions that could have supported life.

The Downlink

This week the world’s attention is on Mars as its next era of exploration begins. We’re also digging into space policy, with new actions you can take.

The Downlink

We’re gearing up for a Mars landing, and our chief advocate takes a look at crewed Moon programs past and future.

The Downlink

Take a look at distant worlds, far-out views of the cosmos, and even some remote possibilities with this week’s scoop on space news and solar system history.

The Downlink

With 3 spacecraft en route to Mars, we’re sharing mission news, Martian maps, and a chance to meet Bill Nye.

Casey Dreier

Disney’s global box office revenue for Avengers. The amount of money Google makes in 6 days. The cost of NASA's Perseverance rover is less than you might think.

The Downlink

Everything you need to know about two missions en route to Mars and another gearing up for launch, plus the rest of the week’s space news.

Nancy Atkinson

The first Mars microphone, sponsored by The Planetary Society, flew aboard NASA's Polar Lander spacecraft, which crashed on the Red Planet in 1999.

The Downlink

Gear up for Asteroid Day on 30 June, explore the latest issue of The Planetary Report, and get your fill of space news for the week.

Emily Lakdawalla

It's a banner year for sample return missions. In 2020, China, Japan, and the United States are all scheduled to have sample return missions in flight, seeking to retrieve material from near-Earth asteroids, the Moon, and eventually Mars.

Jess Mollerup

An undergraduate physics research student describes her visit to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to see the Perseverance rover before it shipped to Florida for launch.

Corrine Rojas

The maps will help plan scientific field trips for the rover as it explores an ancient river delta.

Javier Gómez-Elvira

Javier Gómez-Elvira anticipates the next phase of the search for life on the Red Planet.

Jason Davis

Last week, technicians installed the carousel that holds the tools and drill bits that will be used to collect samples for future return to Earth.

Jeffrey R. Johnson

Jeff Johnson files a report from ROASTT, the Rover Operations Activities for Science Team Training.

Emily Lakdawalla

NASA announced this morning the selection of Jezero crater for the landing site of the Mars 2020 mission. Jezero is a 45-kilometer-wide crater that once held a lake, and now holds a spectacular ancient river delta.

Darian Dixon

Mastcam-Z will help the Mars 2020 rover explore the surface of Mars. Dozens of amazing scientists and engineers from across the globe contribute to the development of Mastcam-Z. This year, the team photo was taken with our very own Mastcam-Z testbed unit.