Sources: BBC
In the United States, Blue Origin launches NASA's ESCAPADE spacecraft mission to study Mars' magnetosphere. It is the second launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle, and the first successful landing of the vehicle's reusable first stage. 2025-11-13
NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars finds a rock containing spotted features which are possible fossilized records of microbes, though non-biological processes cannot yet be ruled out. 2024-07-25
NASA's "Perseverance" finds evidence that an ancient river delta on Mars held a crater-filling lake billions of years ago. 2023-12-12
The NASA robotic lander "InSight" lands safely on the Elysium Planitia plain of Mars to study the geology of the red planet. 2018-11-26
NASA selects Jezero crater on Mars as the landing site for the Mars 2020 rover. The crater was once a large lake and may hold evidence of ancient life. 2018-11-19
NASA announces it has completed its first full-power test of the Kilopower nuclear reactor for space. NASA intends to use the technology to power exploration missions to the Moon and Mars. 2018-05-2
NASA announces new plans to launch another Curiosity-like robotic science rover to Mars in 2020. 2012-12-4
NASA's "Curiosity" rover has detected several simple carbon-based organic compounds on Mars, but it remains unclear whether they were formed via Earthly contamination or whether they contain only elements indigenous to the planet. 2012-12-3
A pinch of fine sand and dust became the first solid Martian sample deposited into the Sample Analysis at Mars, the biggest instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The sample came from the patch of windblown material called Rocknest, which had provided a sample previously for mineralogical analysis by CheMin instrument. 2012-11-13
NASA and Cornell University have given up attempting to move the "Spirit" rover, currently stuck in sand near Home Plate, Gusev crater on the planet Mars, and are converting it into a stationary outpost. Its twin rover, "Opportunity", remains mobile on Mars. 2010-02-3