Mars

On September 15th, 2024, the Polaris Dawn crew returned to Earth after spending five days in orbit. The mission was the first of three planned for the Polaris program, a private space project to advance human spaceflight capabilities and raise funds and awareness for charitable causes. The mission’s Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down off the…

We are all familiar with our one Moon but other planets have different numbers of moons; Mercury has none, Jupiter has 95 and Mars has two. A new paper proposes that Mars may actually have had a third larger moon. Why? The red planet has a triaxial shape which means it bulges just like Earth…

NASA scientists on Earth have recreated the creepy black "spiders" that litter the surface of Mars. The breakthrough left the researchers "shrieking" with joy and could help uncover further secrets about the mysterious structures."Spiders on Mars" is the name given to a geological feature, known as araneiform terrain, that is visible in multiple locations on…

Mars has always held a special place in our hearts, likely from hints over the decades of perhaps finding signs of life, albeit fossilised and primitive. It’s been the subject of study from telescopes and space missions alike, most notably ESA’s Mars Express which has been observing the red planet for 20 years. Over the…

A long-lost moon could explain why Mars is so different from the other rocky planets in the solar system.Today, Mars has two tiny moons. But early in its history, the Red Planet may have had a much larger moon, which might be responsible for Mars' weird shape and extreme terrain, Michael Efroimsky, an astronomer at…

A team of scientists presented a new gravity map of Mars at the Europlanet Science Congress 2024. The map shows the presence of dense, large-scale structures under Mars’ long-gone ocean and that mantle processes are affecting Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. The new map and analysis include data from multiple missions,…

In 2003, strange features on Mars’s surface got scientists’ “spidey senses” tingling when they saw them. That’s when unusual “anareiform terrain” landforms appeared in images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They’ve returned each year, spreading across the southern hemisphere surface. At first, nobody knew what caused these weird wrinkly spider-like formations. Now, NASA researchers have…

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has delayed its launch, but the ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover is heading toward completion. It was originally scheduled to launch in 2018, but technical delays prevented it. Now, after dropping Russia from the project because of their invasion, the ESA says it won’t launch before 2028. But when it does launch…

Mars is known for its unique geological features. Olympus Mons is a massive shield volcano 2.5 times taller than Mt. Everest. Hellas Planitia is the largest visible impact crater in the Solar System. However, Mars’ most striking feature is Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System. This fascinating geological feature begs to be…

Astronomers recently spotted a surprising "smiley face" beaming up from the surface of Mars as they surveyed the alien landscape as part of a new study. The emoticon-like structure, which is only visible under certain conditions, is the remnant of an ancient lake that dried up billions of years ago — and could be harboring…