A Japanese space mission is preparing to travel to Mars, but its goal is not to land directly on the surface of the Red Planet. Instead, the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission will focus on Phobos, the larger of Mars’s two small moons. The mission is scheduled to launch on Monday, October 19, at 9:41 […] Post Japan Plans to Uncover the Secrets of Mars’s Moons: MMX Mission Prepares for Launch at Root-Nation.com.

Explore Mars, its geology, atmosphere, ancient water, potential for life, Phobos and Deimos, and the latest discoveries from European space missions.

NASA's Perseverance rover went to the edge of Jezero Crater expecting an ancient lakeshore. The rock there turned out to be volcanic, and water reworked it at least three times: carbon-rich groundwate

Aberystwyth Uni technology is helping test the Rosalind Franklin rover in Spain’s Mars-like Tabernas Desert ahead of the ExoMars mission.

Written by Athanasios (Thanos) Klidaras, Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University

"China will not only grab the headlines but may be the first to find evidence of life on another planet."

NASA's JPL is testing a flexible, featherweight radar antenna designed for the SkyFall mission, which aims to deploy three autonomous helicopters on Mars to search for water resources. The antenna, based on a Vivaldi design, must fold compactly during landings and withstand extreme temperature fluctuations. The mission, scheduled for 2028, will launch from the Space Reactor-1 spacecraft, a fission-powered vehicle derived from elements of the discarded Lunar Gateway station. Engineers tested the antenna's durability against simulated Mars landings and thermal stress, ensuring it can survive the planet's harsh conditions. While uncertainties remain about the mission's timeline and the disposal plan for the Space Reactor-1 after deployment, JPL emphasizes solving technical challenges to advance Martian exploration. The SkyFall helicopters could potentially operate alongside Ingenuity, with plans to use their radar capabilities for subsurface resource detection. Critics question the long-term viability of the nuclear-powered spacecraft and its potential impact on Mars, but NASA remains focused on innovation for future planetary missions.