Neowin News Feed for: Mars

Scientists reveal three step guide to terraform Mars so humans can live there sooner

Sayan Sen — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 15:36:02 +0000

Mars scientists rethink terraforming as new research outlines three steps to make Mars habitable for us humans. Read more...

Scientists explain how water could have actually made Mars the red planet it is today

Sayan Sen — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 21:34:01 +0000

Scientists uncover clues in Mars' "red" dust, hinting at a wetter past and challenging long-held theories about the planet's ancient climate. Read more...

Airbus UK wins huge contract, now tasked with landing rover safely on Mars

Paul Hill — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 08:00:01 +0000

Airbus UK was just awarded a multi-million deal. It's no longer just building the rover; it's now responsible for the landing system that will safely land Rosalind Franklin on Martian soil. Read more...

SpaceX targets five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars with exponential growth

Paul Hill — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 04:54:01 +0000

SpaceX plans to launch five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years, setting the stage for an exponential increase in future missions focused on human exploration of the Red Planet. Read more...

SpaceX sets a new timeline for the Mars colony. First Starships to launch in 2026

Martin Hodás — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 12:16:01 +0000

Elon Musk announced a new, more realistic timeline for Starship launches toward the Red Planet. While it still sounds ambitious, the company is making progress with the world's biggest space rocket. Read more...

After breaking up with Russia, NASA comes to save Europe's never-ending mission to Mars

Martin Hodás — Sat, 18 May 2024 19:58:01 +0000

European space mission ExoMars began in 2001. However, it came close to being canceled due to repeated delays and war in Ukraine. A new partnership with NASA aims to finally send the rover into space. Read more...

What happens on Mars, stays on Mars? NASA helicopter's mysterious damage uncovered in hi-res

Martin Hodás — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 05:30:01 +0000

The unique mission of the Mars helicopter was halted by terminal damage, and now that we have finally seen the full extent of what had happened, it looks more dramatic than expected. Read more...

UK Space Agency to spend £7.4 million on Moon, Mars and Venus projects

Paul Hill — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 05:14:02 +0000

The UK Space Agency has announced £7.4 million in funding for several global space projects. This funding will help the UK play a part in upcoming space exploration while keeping costs quite low. Read more...

Tech & science of Mars colonization are jokingly trivial to solve, ex-NASA scientist argues

Martin Hodás — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 21:14:01 +0000

Technical and environmental challenges of deep space exploration are difficult, but not unsolvable. The real barrier between mankind and Mars is the level of commitment from relevant stakeholders. Read more...

Farewell Ingenuity: NASA's pioneering Mars helicopter officially ends its mission damaged

Martin Hodás — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 08:54:01 +0000

The unique mission of the Mars helicopter was a huge success, exceeding all expectations. However, NASA's Ingenuity sustained damage during its final flight, grounding the rotorcraft forever. Read more...

TWIRL 68: SpaceX's Dragon 2 craft to take cargo to the space station

Paul Hill — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 17:46:02 +0000

We have two launches in the week ahead, both from SpaceX. Also, be sure to check out this week's recap section where we've included a video of dust devils on Mars filmed by a NASA rover. Read more...

Chinese Zhurong rover sends audiovisuals from Mars

Chandrakant Isi — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 20:36:01 +0000

China's National Space Administration (CNSA) has shared a video of Zhurong rover's descent on Mars. It is part of the Tianwen-1 mission aimed at studying the Martian geology and atmosphere. Read more...

China successfully lands its Zhurong Mars rover

Paul Hill — Sat, 15 May 2021 15:02:01 +0000

China has successfully landed its first rover on the Martian surface. The Zhurong rover touched down in the Utopia Planitia region where it will conduct experiments on Martian rocks. Read more...

NASA successfully flies Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

Paul Hill — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 12:46:01 +0000

NASA has successfully flown the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. This is the first time a powered, controlled flight has taken place on another planet and will be sure to send back some interesting photos. Read more...

SpaceX almost lands Starship successfully on the third attempt

Paul Hill — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 00:12:01 +0000

SpaceX has finally managed to land a Starship rocket, however, several minutes after, the vehicle exploded due to a fire which managed to reach the propellant which subsequently ignited. Read more...

Rocket Lab releases plans for reusable Neutron rocket

Paul Hill — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 15:24:01 +0000

Rocket Lab has announced plans for its upcoming Neutron rocket which will deliver larger satellites to space, go to other planets and launch with human crews. Neutron will be partially reusable too. Read more...

NASA unveils Perseverance landing footage and Mars audio

Paul Hill — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 22:10:01 +0000

NASA has released footage of the Perseverance rover landing on Mars last week. High definition cameras equipped to the machinery at different vantage points give great shots of Mars and the rover. Read more...

NASA successfully lands Perseverance rover on Mars

Paul Hill — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 22:32:01 +0000

NASA has confirmed the successful landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars. In its two year mission, it will take samples from a historical lakebed which will be examing for signs of ancient life. Read more...

UKSA and Rolls-Royce to study nuclear-powered space travel

Paul Hill — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 17:20:01 +0000

The UK Space Agency is going to work with Rolls-Royce to investigate nuclear propulsion. If developed, a nuclear rocket would get to Mars in half the time it currently takes with today's technology. Read more...

"Mars, here we come!!" exclaims Elon Musk despite explosive ending to Starship's test flight

Ather Fawaz — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 06:56:01 +0000

Starship SN8 executed an almost perfect high-altitude flight test before plummeting towards the earth at a velocity greater than the intended threshold. SpaceX and Musk extolled the test as a success. Read more...

Elon Musk urges SpaceX to consider Starship as the top priority

Ather Fawaz — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 04:50:01 +0000

In a company-wide email, Musk urged SpaceX employees to shift gears, invest significant time, and focus primarily on the Starship initiative henceforth to dramatically accelerate its progress. Read more...

SpaceX unveils a Users Guide for its Starship rocket

Ather Fawaz — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 06:10:01 +0000

The Users Guide describes the crewed and uncrewed payload configurations, information on Acoustics, and the various Environments of the Starship rocket. No pricing details are given, however. Read more...

The Mars 2020 rover stands tall on its wheels for the first time

Ather Fawaz — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 11:00:01 +0000

The Mars 2020 rover is now able to support its own weight on its six aluminum wheels. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA released a time-lapse of the rover being lowered to the ground. Read more...

SpaceX and Elon Musk want to put Starship in orbit in half a year, and other updates

Ather Fawaz — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 07:38:01 +0000

In a presentation, Musk announced his plans to put Starship into orbit in about six months. He also elucidated the design and mechanical details of the rocket that is meant to drive space travel. Read more...

NASA launches a campaign inviting kids to name the Mars 2020 Rover

Ather Fawaz — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 06:08:01 +0000

With the rover nearing the end of its development stages, NASA is now looking for potential names for it. The procreator of the chosen name will be invited to Florida for the rover's launch in 2020. Read more...

Elon Musk's new merchandise is in support of nuking Mars one t-shirt at a time

Ather Fawaz — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 16:28:01 +0000

The tech entrepreneur, engineer, and investor, Elon Musk has made good on his promise to release t-shirts in support of his idea of terraforming Mars by quite literally nuking its poles. Read more...

Valve announces two new Dota 2 heroes at The International, one out right now

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 09:00:01 +0000

Two brand new heroes for Valve's popular MOBA, Dota 2, were announced today during The International. Grimstroke has already been released, but Mars has a winter 2018 release schedule. Read more...

Scientists find first persistent water source on Mars

Paul Hill — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 17:12:01 +0000

Scientists have discovered the first persistent water source on Mars. The water has been described as a lake 20km across and is at least one metre deep, but could go down much further. Read more...

NASA hopes to launch Mars mission today, here's how to watch it

Paul Hill — Sat, 05 May 2018 02:38:01 +0000

NASA could launch its InSight mission to Mars today. The new lander will look deep below the surface of the planet to collect data so that scientists can map the planet's vast interior. Read more...

Here's how you can watch Falcon Heavy send a car to Mars [Update]

Paul Hill — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 12:32:01 +0000

The Falcon Heavy, from SpaceX, is set for its maiden voyage today. It'll send a Tesla Roadster into orbit around the Sun, where it could stay for up to a billion years into the future. Read more...

4 innovative products that impressed the CES 2018 awards judges

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 16:20:01 +0000

31 products won Best of Innovation Awards for CES 2018. Four of the products included: a robot for your home, a HUD for motorcyclists, language translating earbuds, and a wireless charging system. Read more...

Elon Musk is sending a Tesla Roadster to Mars - here are some pictures

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 22:30:01 +0000

The eccentric billionaire plans on sending Tesla's first electric vehicle to Mars aboard a SpaceX rocket. He shared images yesterday of the car being fitted into the rocket assembly. Read more...

This week in science: new detection of gravitational waves

Gabriel Nunes — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 23:22:01 +0000

The first detection of gravitational waves by both LIGO and Virgo detectors was announced this week; a new type of supercomputer using polaritons was successfully tested; and more. Read more...

Elon Musk's plans for the Big Fucking Rocket: Mars, Moon, and Earth

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 10:50:01 +0000

Elon Musk's goals for the BFR system are clear, he wants nothing short of making humanity a multiplanet species; with a moon base, a manned mission to Mars in 2024, and rocket-trips around Earth too. Read more...

The UAE is going to build the largest Mars base, on Earth

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 16:58:01 +0000

The Mars Scientific City aims to be a fully functioning simulation of what it will be like on an actual Mars base. Scientists can spend a year there completely isolated from the outside world. Read more...

Elon Musk posts a video of the ITS that he wants to colonize Mars with

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 09:18:07 +0000

Elon Musk has posted a simulation video of the planned Interplanetary Transport System ahead of his main speech which he will be giving at the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Australia. Read more...

SETI scientist lists seven places microbial life could be found in space

Paul Hill — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 14:22:01 +0000

Here's the rundown of a location in space where a scientist from SETI believe extraterrestrial microbial life could be found. It largely reinforces what other scientists have said in the past. Read more...

This is SpaceX's attempt at a spacesuit, and it looks awesome

Paul Hill — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 19:48:01 +0000

Elon Musk has taken to Instagram to post a new picture of a working spacesuit. The spacesuit combines a cool design with functionality - features that Musk described as "incredibly hard to balance." Read more...

Colonizing Mars: Elon Musk's vision for 1 million people over the next 100 years

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 16:14:01 +0000

Musk outlines his Interplanetary Transport System which he says will be refueled in space, carry over 100 people, be the biggest rocket in history, and will be "great fun" to travel in. Read more...

This week in science: artificial photosynthesis, Martian soil bricks, Cassini's Grand Finale

Gabriel Nunes — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:16:02 +0000

Scientists revealed the first artificial photosynthesis triggered by blue light without rare materials and a new way to make bricks from Martian soil. Also, Cassini's Grand Finale has begun. Read more...