Mars

The Perseverance rover has captured footage of an unusually large twister, or "dust devil," moving across the Martian landscape. Based on images of the swirling storm, researchers estimate that it could be more than a mile tall.

One researcher hypothesizes that experiments carried out by NASA's Viking landers in 1976 could have inadvertently killed microbes living in Martian rocks. Other experts are skeptical.

Researchers estimated that as few as 22 people would be needed to sustain a colony on Mars. But there are lots of caveats, and the new study largely misses the point of colonizing the Red Planet in the first place, experts say.

A patchwork of polygon-shaped cracks in ancient Martian mud are evidence of past wet-dry cycles, which could have helped extraterrestrial life emerge on the Red Planet.

Data from NASA's InSight mission shows that Mars's rotation is speeding up and its days are growing slightly shorter. Scientists have a few ideas why.

NASA's Perseverance rover is perfectly positioned to snap pictures of massive sunspots that could spit out powerful solar storms before they become visible from Earth.

NASA's Perseverance rover has found an intriguing menagerie of organic molecules in a Martian crater, but their source remains unclear.

China's presumed-dead Zhurong rover spotted telltale patterns of ancient climate change in the Martian dunes.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has phoned home after 63 days of silence, and all appears to be well with the little rotorcraft.