Mars

Find out everything there is to know about Mars and stay updated on the latest Mars news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and Mars pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more about this fascinating planet as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about Mars.

Related Topics: Planets, Robots

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Watch 3 Solar Eclipses on Mars, Captured by Curiosity

By Mindy Weisberger published

Curiosity rover captured Martian moons Phobos and Deimos crossing the sun.

This NASA image shows a preserved river channel on Mars, with color overlaid to indicate elevation (blue is low, yellow is high). The range of elevation in the snapshot is about 115 feet (35 meters).

Mars Was Once Covered in Wide, Raging Rivers

By Rafi Letzter published

Mars was very wet until suddenly it wasn't. And scientists still aren't sure why.

Space Orbiter Spots 'Hairy Blue Spider' on Mars

By Mindy Weisberger published

Bowie was right; there really is a "spider" from Mars.

Panoramic view of Mars

Here's What NASA's Opportunity Rover Saw Before 'Lights Out'

By Mike Wall published

There's a glorious panorama and a few sad thumbnails of a dark and dusty sky.

This zoomed-in image shows the impact site.

An Exploding Asteroid Blasted Across Mars' Surface in the Last 10 Years

By Rafi Letzter published

Sometime in the last decade, something heavy slammed into the Martian atmosphere and blasted apart into a hard rain of superheated material.

NASA's Opportunity rover

Why Can't NASA's Curiosity Rover Rescue Opportunity?

By Rafi Letzter published

NASA has another mobile robot on Mars. Why not launch a rescue mission?

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity reveals its shadow, seen on July 26, 2004, and snapped by the rover’s front hazard-avoidance camera. At the time, Opportunity was moving farther into Endurance Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars.

What Will Happen to the Opportunity Rover's Dead Body on Mars?

By Rafi Letzter published

NASA's Opportunity Rover has died on Mars. Now what?

Opportunity rover tracks

Mars Rover Opportunity Is Dead After Record-Breaking 15 Years on Red Planet

By Mike Wall published

One of the great exploration stories of our time is officially over.

Atacama desert

What's So Special About the Atacama Desert?

By Jennifer Leman published

Northern Chile's dry and desolate Atacama Desert hosts the world's largest array of astronomical observatories. Scientists have called the largely lifeless region Earth's closest analogue of Mars.

Extreme Microbes Found in Crystals Buried 200 Feet Beneath the Sea of Japan

By Mindy Weisberger published

Living in extreme environments requires extreme solutions.

Mars landscape with inset of wineglass.

Wine on Mars? The World's Oldest Wine-Making Country Wants to Make It Happen

By Brandon Specktor published

Fancy some white wine on the Red Planet? Scientists in the Republic of Georgia are determined to grow grapes on Mars.

Mars InSight lander art

Could Life on Mars Be Lurking Deep Underground?

By Mindy Weisberger published

To find life on Mars, scientists may need to "go deep."

Mars InSight Spotted by MRO's HiRISE

NASA's Insight Lander on Mars Spotted from Space

By Mike Wall published

nematode deep underground

Earth's Mysterious 'Deep Biosphere' Is Home to Millions of Undiscovered Species, Scientists Say

By Brandon Specktor published

Should we search for life on other planets, or begin searching deep inside our own?

martian blueberries

Tiny 'Blueberries' on Mars Continue to Baffle Scientists

By Meghan Bartels published

The Atacama desert typically receives less than a half-inch of rain every year.

Rare Rainfall in the Atacama Is Deadly for Its Tiniest Inhabitants

By Mara Johnson-Groh published

What is supposed to be a boon to life caused bacteria to burst like balloons.

Mars InSight Landing Site Flyover

Soar Over NASA's InSight Landing Site on Mars in This Stunning Video

By Mike Wall published

A new video gives a bird's-eye view of the patch of Mars that NASA's InSight lander now calls home.

Mars InSight Stuck the Landing. Here's the First Thing It Did.

By Mindy Weisberger published

InSight stuck the landing on Mars — here’s what happens after touchdown.

Mars InSight lander art

Touchdown on Mars! NASA's InSight Lands to Peer Inside the Red Planet

By Mike Wall published

NASA's InSight lander touched down safely on the Martian surface today (Nov. 26), pulling off the first successful Red Planet landing since the Curiosity rover's arrival in August 2012.

Mars InSight lander parachute art

Twitter Erupts with Mars Madness As Lander Touches Down Safely on Red Planet

By Jeanna Bryner published

Bam, just like that, the Mars InSight lander plops onto the surface of its new home. Here's what Twitter had to say about the momentous landing.