perseverance

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.

NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has been given a new mission after acing its historic test flights. The drone will soon embark on some one-way flights to demonstrate its ability to act as a scout for the Perseverance rover.

High-altitude icy clouds may have allowed ancient Mars to host rivers and lakes by warming the planet via a greenhouse effect, according to a new study. The theory could be tested by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is currently exploring the planet.

Perseverance has notched up another first by extracting oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. The rover's toaster-sized MOXIE unit converted carbon dioxide into about 5.4 grams of oxygen – a process that may one day help astronauts live off the land.

NASA has made history today, conducting the very first powered flight on another planet. The Mars Helicopter Ingenuity successfully took to the Red Planet skies for a brief jaunt, which will hopefully be the first of several.

We’ve seen images of Mars for decades, but now NASA has released the first audio clips recorded on the Red Planet. The Perseverance playlist includes sounds of Martian wind, a laser zapping rocks, and the crunch of gravel under the rover’s wheels.