Mars

By casting one eye to a past where ancient buildings were held together with animal blood, and one eye to a future where humans use Martian soil for on-site construction, scientists have cooked up a new recipe for cost effective "cosmic concrete."

NASA has released an image showing that the Perseverance Mars rover has successfully retrieved its first rock drill sample for return to Earth. Taken by the Mastcam-Z, the image shows a drill bit holding a pencil-thick core in the sample tube.

An international team of scientists has calculated that a crewed mission to Mars should only last a maximum of four years if the astronauts' health isn't to be endangered by prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring Gale crater for nine years, studying sediments that look an awful lot like those left behind from an ancient lake. But new research from the University of Hong Kong proposes a much drier explanation.

NASA has commissioned high-profile architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to design a 3D-printed simulated Mars habitat, and is accepting applications from would-be participants willing to live in it for a year.

In 2018 astronomers announced the discovery of lakes of liquid water on Mars at the south pole. Sadly, a trio of new papers refutes the claim, with new experiments suggesting that the “water” signal was more likely produced by frozen clay instead.

NASA's InSight has provided … well, insight, into the inner workings of the Red Planet. By monitoring marsquakes over the past two years, the instrument measured the thickness and composition of Mars’ crust, mantle and core, revealing some surprises.

A team of NASA scientists may have resolved a mystery surrounding disappearing methane on Mars, that may hint at the presence of life. The gas was detectable by NASA’s Curiosity rover, but absent in readings taken by an orbiting ESA spacecraft.

Back in May, China became just the third nation to land on the surface of Mars. Its first interplanetary rover, named Zhurong, can now be seen and heard making its very first movements on the Red Planet in newly released recordings.

Lockheed Martin has been selected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to design and build the aeroshell and heat shield for the space agency's Mars Sample Retrieval Lander, which will help return the first Martian samples to Earth.

After an eventful start to life on Mars that has included capturing the first ever audio recordings on the planet and supporting the Ingenuity helicopter throughout its history-making flights, the Perseverance rover is ready to get down to business.

New research led by the University of California Riverside has identified a relatively simple catalyst that can remove common pollutants called perchlorates, helping reduce water and soil pollution not just on Earth but potentially on Mars one day.