Mars Sample Return News & Features
NASA’s Perseverance Fords an Ancient River to Reach Science Target
Originally thought of as little more than a route clear of rover-slowing boulders, Neretva Vallis has provided a bounty of geologic options for the science team. After detouring through a dune field to avoid wheel-rattling boulders, NASA’s Perseverance Mars…
Clare Luckey: Shaping the Future of Mars Missions and Inspiring the Artemis Generation
As a member of the Mars Architecture Team, Clare Luckey is one of the people at the forefront of designing the first crewed mission to the Red Planet. Her current work involves helping to develop the vision for the initial…
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team Says Goodbye … for Now
The final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission — and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role. Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter assembled…
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson shared on Monday the agency’s path forward on the Mars Sample Return program, including seeking innovative designs to return valuable samples from Mars to Earth. Such samples will not only help us understand the formation and…
NASA Invites Media to Mars Sample Return Update
NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT, Monday, April 15, to discuss the agency’s response to a Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board report from September 2023, including next steps for the program. The teleconference will livestream…
Rock Sampled by NASA’s Perseverance Embodies Why Rover Came to Mars
Editor’s note: This story was updated April 29, 2024, to correct the date on which the 24th sample was collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. The 24th sample taken by the six-wheeled scientist offers new clues about Jezero Crater and the…
NASA Uses Two Worlds to Test Future Mars Helicopter Designs
Engineers will go beyond the ends of the Earth to find more performance for future Mars helicopters. For the first time in history, two planets have been home to testing future aircraft designs. On this world, a new rotor that…
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Dust-Filled Martian Whirlwind
The six-wheeled geologist spotted the twister as part of an atmospheric exploration of Jezero Crater. The lower portion of a Martian dust devil was captured moving along the western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Aug.…
Historic Wind Tunnel Facility Testing NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle Rocket
The same facility that provided valuable testing for NASA missions to low-Earth orbit and the Moon is now helping the agency prepare to launch the first rocket from Mars. The MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) team recently completed wind tunnel testing…
Historic Wind Tunnel Facility Testing NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle Rocket
By Jessica Barnett The MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) team recently completed wind tunnel testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in a facility that has been a critical part of NASA missions going all the way back to the Apollo…