Mars Exploration News

Associated Press • Marcia Dunn

SpaceX completes final Version 2 Starship test — 11th flight deploys test satellites and returns largely intact

SpaceX completed the 11th Starship/Super Heavy test flight — the last for its second‑generation design — launching from Starbase, deploying test satellites to orbit and returning the upper stage largely intact. The mission clears the way for an upgraded Version 3 prototype planned for test launches next year.

2025-10-13T17:07:45.617123-07:00

Wall Street Journal

Starship’s 10th Test Flight Largely Successful — Deploys Eight Mock Starlink Sats and Validates Heat‑Shield Tiles

2025-08-26T18:23:49.861540-07:00

New York Times

Perseverance sample from Martian lakebed shows potential biosignatures; Earth return and confirmation in doubt

2025-09-10T08:03:52.240286-07:00

NASA

NASA selects 10 new astronaut candidates for Artemis‑era training, stresses return to the Moon ahead of China

2025-09-22T09:59:41.759729-07:00

Mars Exploration News Timeline

New York Times

Scientists and enthusiasts converge at Mars Society conference; one attendee says they'd take a 'one‑way ticket' At the Mars Society's annual conference, scientists and Red Planet enthusiasts gathered to discuss future exploration and settlement. Attendees ranged from professional researchers to fans—one of whom said they would accept a “one‑way ticket” to Mars, underscoring enduring public interest in crewed missions.

2025-10-15T10:53:01.669256-07:00

Scientists and enthusiasts converge at Mars Society conference; one attendee says they'd take a 'one‑way ticket'

Associated Press

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SpaceX completes final Version 2 Starship test — 11th flight deploys test satellites and returns largely intact SpaceX completed the 11th Starship/Super Heavy test flight — the last for its second‑generation design — launching from Starbase, deploying test satellites to orbit and returning the upper stage largely intact. The mission clears the way for an upgraded Version 3 prototype planned for test launches next year.

2025-10-13T17:07:45.617123-07:00

SpaceX completes final Version 2 Starship test — 11th flight deploys test satellites and returns largely intact

ESA

European orbiters map 1,039 Martian dust devils to chart regional winds Researchers combed 20 years of imagery from ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to identify 1,039 dust devils, revealing how dust is lofted and redistributed across the surface. Published in Science Advances, the results map regional wind strengths and affect imaging, surface operations and mission planning.

2025-10-08T11:02:18.331778-07:00

European orbiters map 1,039 Martian dust devils to chart regional winds

Live Science

Mars Express flyover visualizes 1,000-mile 'maze' in high-resolution video A new public video assembled from Mars Express orbiter data stitches high-resolution imagery into a flyover of a roughly 1,000-mile-long maze on Mars, revealing striking surface detail and regional context that could inform geological interpretation, landing-site selection, and downstream mission planning.

2025-10-07T05:43:03.125240-07:00

Mars Express flyover visualizes 1,000-mile 'maze' in high-resolution video

skyandtelescope.org

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Mars orbiters, led by MRO/HiRISE, will image interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during Oct. 3 flyby Comet 3I/ATLAS — the third confirmed interstellar object — will pass roughly 30 million kilometres from Mars on Oct. 3, and a fleet of Mars orbiters will aim instruments at the visitor. NASA's MRO/HiRISE will attempt high-resolution images while European and other orbiters collect complementary remote-sensing data.

2025-10-02T11:36:41.404875-07:00

Mars orbiters, led by MRO/HiRISE, will image interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during Oct. 3 flyby

Space.com

How Perseverance’s instruments identified a possible sign of ancient life on Mars Perseverance's onboard instruments have detected features in a Jezero Crater rock that scientists say could be a biosignature, but remote measurements are ambiguous and unable to provide definitive proof. Confirming ancient life will require returned samples and laboratory analysis on Earth, with procedural hurdles ahead.

2025-09-30T07:06:00.601702-07:00

How Perseverance’s instruments identified a possible sign of ancient life on Mars

Space.com

Ball-shaped 'tumbleweed' rovers proposed to drift across Mars powered solely by wind A proposed fleet of ball-shaped rovers could drift across the Martian surface like terrestrial tumbleweeds, using local winds as their sole means of propulsion. The passive, wind-driven concept would permit broad-area traversal without wheels or powered locomotion, potentially reducing system complexity for surface exploration.

2025-09-30T03:08:27.997615-07:00

Ball-shaped 'tumbleweed' rovers proposed to drift across Mars powered solely by wind

Space.com

Global space leaders push for a continuous lunar presence and coordinated path to Mars World space leaders outlined plans for a sustained lunar presence and coordinated pathways to crewed missions to Mars, saying "The exploration of the moon is going to be a continuous activity." They framed the Moon as an enduring platform to support long‑term operations and future human missions to Mars.

2025-09-29T14:04:29.785457-07:00

Global space leaders push for a continuous lunar presence and coordinated path to Mars

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Our Mars Exploration news feed is the go-to source for the latest discoveries, mission updates, and technological advancements related to the Red Planet. With a focus on the international efforts to explore Mars, from robotic rovers to plans for human colonization, our coverage tracks humanity's progress in uncovering the secrets of our celestial neighbor.