A pair of NASA spacecraft know as the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) to be launched to Mars by a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. ESCAPADE will study how the "solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape,

NASA scientists and administrators gathered this week to share their analysis of a Martian rock sample collected by the Perseverance rover in July 2024.

Prize: NASA could offer a prize—say $3 billion to the first company and $1 billion to a second company—for delivering something like 1 kg of Mars rocks and soil back to Earth. NASA has used prizes very sparingly in the past, but this option could appeal to the Trump administration as it would require very little funding up front.

Jezero Crater on Mars was once home to a lake, delta and rivers. See an animation of what it could have looked like when water poured into the crater billions of years ago and present day. Credit: Space.

NASA’s Perseverance rover found possible signs of ancient life in rocks on Mars, keeping scientists up at night.