Mars

After months of meticulous planning, NASA's Odyssey Orbiter finally captured a unique view of the Red Planet's horizon, which is similar to what future Martian astronauts might see.

The Red Planet has reached solar conjunction as its orbit takes it to the far side of the sun and out of sight. NASA's Mars robots are on their own until Nov. 25.

Scientists just observed Mars' eerie green nightglow in the visible light spectrum for the very first time.

The strongest recorded Marsquake, which rattled for six hours in May 2022, left no visible traces on the Red Planet surface. Now, scientists think they know what caused it.

See Mars' geology up close, thanks to decades of stunning images from the Mars Express satellite, in a new visualization of Noctis Labyrinthus, the 'Labyrinth of Night'.

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.