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NASA's Perseverance rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the surface of Mars.

SCIENCE

Inside NASA's Elaborate Effort to Bring Rocks From Mars to Earth

The decade-long mission requires dozens of glass tubes, two rovers and three more rocket launches, including the first from another planet

More Stories on the Red Planet

NASA's InSight lander peers down at the Martian surface. The mission recorded more than 1,300 quakes during its four years of operation.

SMART NEWS

Mars' Most Powerful Quake Likely Triggered by Tectonic Forces

In 1980, the Viking Orbiter took 102 individual images of Mars that scientists eventually assembled into this stunning composite photo. The dark gash across the planet’s face is the Valles Marineris, a canyon that’s up to 6 miles deep and over 2,500 miles long.

SCIENCE

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Mars

Artist’s rendition of the Rosalind Franklin rover.

SCIENCE

The Mission That Could Transform Our Understanding of Mars

This illustration shows NASA's InSight spacecraft with its instruments deployed on the Martian surface.

SCIENCE

This Important Geophysical Robot on Mars May Die Soon

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter arrived on Mars on February 18, 2021.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Why Did NASA Test a Helicopter on Mars?