TOKYO—Japanese space agency scientists said Thursday they plan to bring soil samples back from the Mars region ahead of the United States and China, which started Mars missions last year, in hopes of finding clues to the planet’s origin and traces of possible life. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to launch an…
NASA Blames Mars Rover Sampling Fiasco on Bad, Powdery Rock
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—NASA is blaming unusually soft rock for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars. The Perseverance rover came up empty after attempting to collect its first core sample on the red planet for eventual return to Earth. Data beamed back last Friday showed that the rover drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3…
Want to Pretend to Live on Mars? For a Whole Year? Apply Now
Want to find your inner Matt Damon and spend a year pretending you are isolated on Mars? NASA has a job for you. To prepare for eventually sending astronauts to Mars, NASA began taking applications Friday for four people to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha. That’s a 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat, created by a 3D…
Marsquakes Reveal Detailed Look at Red Planet’s Interior
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A quake-measuring device on Mars is providing the first detailed look at the red planet’s interior, revealing a surprisingly thin crust and a hot molten core beneath the frigid surface. In a series of articles published Thursday, scientists reported that the Martian crust is within the thickness range of Earth’s. The Martian mantle…
NASA Mars Helicopter Heard Humming Through Thin Martian Air
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—First came the amazing pictures, then the video. Now NASA is sharing sounds of its little helicopter humming through the thin Martian air. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California released this first-ever audio Friday, just before Ingenuity was set to soar on its fifth test flight. The low hum from the helicopter blades…
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Shifts Into New Operational Test Phase
LOS ANGELES—After exceeding all expectations with its initial four test flights, the first ever by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, NASA’s tiny Mars robot helicopter Ingenuity is ready for graduation. The U.S. space agency announced on Friday that Ingenuity is shifting from a pure proof-of-concept, technology demonstration mode to a more ambitious…
NASA Scores Wright Brothers Moment With First Helicopter Flight on Mars
LOS ANGELES—NASA’s miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars early on Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, the U.S. space agency said. The twin-rotor whirligig’s debut on the Red Planet marked a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment for NASA, which said…
The Man Behind Perseverance and the Mission to Mars
Commentary I’ve been fascinated by space since my earliest childhood, when I would read comic books about Martian invasions of Earth and rockets that took humans to the far reaches of the universe. In the last year, I greatly admired Vice President Mike Pence’s leadership on America’s Moon to Mars mission plans. I reveled at…
NASA’s New Mars Rover Hits Dusty Red Road, 1st Trip 21 Feet
NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive.
Mars Rover’s Giant Parachute Carried Secret Message
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team. Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out “Dare Mighty Things” in the orange and white strips of the 70-foot parachute. He also included the…
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