Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun – a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. Mars is also a dynamic planet with seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, extinct volcanoes, and evidence that it was even more active in the past.

Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky – it looks like a bright red point of light. Despite being inhospitable to humans, robotic explorers – like NASA's new Perseverance rover – are serving as pathfinders to eventually get humans to the surface of the Red Planet.

Jan 9, 2025 · Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.

Part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, Curiosity is the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars. Curiosity’s mission is to answer the question: did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes?

Jan 9, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. Asteroids range in size from Vesta – the largest at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter – to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across.

Mars Polar Lander (MPL) and the two Deep Space 2 (DS2) probes were launched using a single launch vehicle from Kennedy Space Center on 3 January 1999. Upon arrival at Mars, communications ended according to plan as the three spacecraft prepared to enter the …

Jun 7, 2018 · NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet.

Dec 23, 2021 · As 2021 began, we eagerly awaited the Perseverance rover’s arrival at Jezero Crater on Mars. The early part of the year was all about the Red Planet – with a successful rover landing and the first-ever helicopter flight on another world.

Feb 11, 2015 · Opportunity identified the oldest habitable environment on Mars dating back to 3.7 billion years ago at Endeavor Crater. MAVEN measured how solar wind strips the Martian atmosphere over billions of years, transforming the planet from warm and wet to cold and dry