Red Mars

NASA's dead Mars orbiter MAVEN will crash into the Red Planet in the next 100 years. It's not the only probe in the Mars morgue

NASA's dead Mars orbiter MAVEN will crash into the Red Planet in the next 100 years. It's not the only probe in the Mars morgue The Mars graveyard just welcomed another corpse.

Our verdict on Luminous by Silvia Park: a fascinating take on robots

The New Scientist Book Club had quite a change of science-fictional pace in May, moving from the wilds of space in our April read, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, to a much closer-to-home future in Silvia Park’s Luminous. Like another of our reads this year, Sierra Greer’s Annie Bot, this imagines a world where robots are integrated into society – and explores how we might deal with this on many different levels: emotionally, spiritually, practically, sexually. Set in a reunified Korea,...

'In an unrecoverable state': NASA confirms MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead after loss of signal behind Mars

'In an unrecoverable state': NASA confirms MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead after loss of signal behind Mars NASA has confirmed its MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead after losing contact with the probe in December. An anomaly in the probe's rotation speed led to an unexpected loss of power, though the exact cause remains unknown. After 11 years studying Mars from above, NASA's MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead, the agency announced in a statement on Wednesday (June 3).

NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter is officially dead after months of radio silence

NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter is officially dead after months of radio silence Au revoir, MAVEN, mon ami. NASA is saying goodbye to one of its most accomplished Mars orbiters. After months of repeated attempts to reestablish contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) satellite, NASA has declared the Red Planet probe dead.

Watch this bio-inspired Mars rover concept 'swim' through sand on curved wheels (video)

Watch this bio-inspired Mars rover concept 'swim' through sand on curved wheels (video) The sandfish locomotion idea has been adopted from Scincus scincus, a lizard found in the Sahara desert. A novel approach to scouting the sand dunes of Mars is the Valles Marineris Explorer - or VaMEx.

'I would never have guessed it': Unexpected effect is squeezing Mars' atmosphere like toothpaste, experts say

The article discusses the unexpected effect of a powerful coronal mass ejection on Mars' atmosphere, which was detected by NASA's MAVEN spacecraft in 2023. The event caused strange "wiggles" in the atmosphere, which were a tell-tale sign of the Zwan-Wolf effect, previously thought to be impossible on Mars. The effect is similar to squeezing toothpaste, and experts were surprised by its occurrence on the Red Planet.

Should we store Mars samples on the moon to keep alien germs away from Earth?

Should we store Mars samples on the moon to keep alien germs away from Earth? "The moon may become humanity's first line of biological defense." A team of researchers is advocating to use the moon as a secure site for biocontainment of extraterrestrial samples, particularly those from Mars, but also from other potential worlds like Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.

Will SpaceX still be a launch company after its historic IPO?

Will SpaceX still be a launch company after its historic IPO? The company is now "a conglomerate with exposure to AI, advertising, communications and space manufacturing and operations." On May 20, SpaceX filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) key documentation for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock.

SpaceX scrubs Starship launch with seconds to go

'Golden age of exploration': Nasa announces crew for Artemis III paving way to lunar South Pole mission

Nasa on Tuesday announced the crew for the Artemis III mission, naming Andre Douglas as mission specialist, Frank Rubio as astronaut, Luca Parmitano as pilot and Randy Bresnik as commander for the landmark flight, while also unveiling new details of the mission. The 2027 mission will undertake a series of complex tests in Earth orbit that are considered essential for Artemis IV, the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole in 2028. The announcement marks another major milestone...