President Obama on Tuesday announced the U.S. has partnered with private firms in the goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s. Obama wrote in an essay for CNN that the government’s “ultimate ambition” is to one day “remain there for an extended time.” He wrote that astronauts will be sent to the International…
NASA has discovered signs of liquid water on Mars, it announced at a press conference Monday morning. “Mars is not the dry, arid planet we thought,” NASA official Jim Green announced. Liquid water has never been detected outside of Earth. NASA found evidence that water formed dark streaks on the Martian surface known as as…
A newly released map of Pluto, made from images from the New Horizons space probe, shows distinctive markings, including shapes of a whale and a doughnut on the dwarf planet’s surface. The map, made of images gathered between June 27 and July 3, is not as sharp as what was expected after the probe’s historic…
After nearly a week of weather-related delays, NASA has sent up a rocket-powered “flying saucer” to test technologies that could someday help get heavy payloads to Mars.
NASA briefed the public Tuesday on a test flight Thursday that will launch the unmanned capsule Orion, which NASA scientists hope one day will carry humans to Mars. Thursday’s test will assess the spacecraft’s heat shield and a variety of other systems. Orion could eventually carry human astronauts to Mars in the mid-2030s.
A comet made a rare pass by Mars on Sunday, passing just 87,000 miles from the planet, less than half the distance between Earth and the moon. NASA said the comet, which is believed to be a first-time visitor to the inner solar system, passed 10 times closer to Mars than any known comet has…
A NASA camera on Mars has captured what appears to be artificial light emanating outward from the planet’s surface. The photo, beamed millions of miles from Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., was taken last week, apparently by one of two NASA rovers on the red planet. Although the space agency hasn’t…
A mission to put humans on Mars that drew 200,000 applicants has selected more than a thousand candidates who will now be tested to come up with a final list of 24 would-be Mars-dwellers. Mars One was set up in 2011 by two Dutch men with the goal of establishing permanent human life on Mars…
House Republicans are pushing for a base on Mars and will discuss their plan at a meeting of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee on Wednesday. The plan is part of legislation to reauthorize NASA for two more years and the bill includes language not only advocating for a base on the surface of…
Investor Announces Plans To Send A Couple Into Space Millionaire space tourist Dennis Tito announced plans to send two astronauts on a 501-day flight that zooms past Mars and swings back to Earth. Such a trip – tentatively set for 2018 – would set plenty of precedents on the final frontier, but the most intriguing…
