Spotlight on Mars

For a behind-the-scenes view of Mars exploration, we hope you enjoy our spotlight stories. See also our press releases.

02-July-2009	NASA Phoenix Results Point to Martian Climate Cycles
	Favorable chemistry and episodes with thin films of liquid water during ongoing, long-term climate cycles may sometimes make the area where NASA's Phoenix Mars mission landed last year a favorable environment for microbes. Read More...
01-July-2009	Rock Under the Belly
	Engineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars. Read More...
30-June-2009	Test Rover Rolls In
	After several days of preparing a sloped area of soft, fine soil to simulate Spirit's current sandtrap on Mars, the rover team drove a test rover into the material on June 30, 2009. Read More...
26-June-2009	The Mixing Begins
	Rover team members mix materials to fill the testbed box. Once filled, the rover will be driven into the test area and set in place to mimic how the actual rover sits on Mars. Read More...
25-June-2009	Mars Team Digs in To Free Spirit
	Mars team members have rolled up their sleeves and will be shaping a few tons of diatomaceous Earth and clay into an exact replica of the area where the Spirit rover is embedded on Mars. Read More...
12-June-2009	The Rover Gets Strong-Armed
	The Mars Science Laboratory rover will sport the biggest, toughest robotic arm the red planet's ever seen! This super-limb must lift 34 kilograms (almost 75 pounds) of instruments to reach out and test martian rocks and soil, which may hold clues about whether Mars could have supported life. Read More...
08-June-2009	'Curiosity,' Meet Clara
	Twelve-year-old Clara Ma flew from Kansas to JPL to meet and sign the next rover that will zoom millions of miles to Mars. The trip is Clara's prize for winning an essay contest in which she named the rover "Curiosity." Read More... View more images on Facebook >>
03-June-2009	Spirit Takes a Peek at Her Belly
	A new image of Spirit's underbelly is helping engineers assess the rover's current state and plan her escape from soft soil. The panoramic mosaic of multiple images was taken by the microscopic imager instrument at the end of Spirit's robotic arm--the first time that imager has been used to assess the underside and wheels of the rover. Read More...
19-May-2009	JPL Blog: Got Water?
	A theme of Mars exploration is "Follow the Water," since understanding the history of water on our planetary neighbor will help us understand if there were environments favorable for life to occur and how climate has changed over time. Read More...
15-Apr-2009	Martian Dust Storm near South Polar Cap
	This nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows billowing clouds of dust being lifted into the atmosphere by a storm near the edge of the seasonal polar cap of southern Mars. Read More...
14-April-2009	Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification
	The parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory passed flight-qualification testing in March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Read More...
28-March-2009	Heavy Duty Trust Building
	Trust--it's vital for each step of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Engineers must trust each other and all the tests they've done while building the rover. Read More...
24-February-2009	Mars Science Laboratory Talks, Rocks, Bakes and Chills
	Before leaving Earth, Mars Science Laboratory is really put to the test to make sure it can survive the trip to the red planet. Read More...