Dietmar Muller
Deep-sea sediments show how the changing orbits of Earth and Mars are linked to past global warming and the speeding up of deep-ocean eddies.
The surface of Mars is cold, dry and rocky.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Determining whether or not life exists on another planet is an extraordinarily complicated – and expensive – scientific endeavor.
NASA
The next generation of spacesuit needs to do more than simply protect an astronaut from the vacuum of space.
Crew members in space will spend lots of time together during future missions to Mars.
NASA via AP
Can astronauts spend prolonged time in close quarters millions of miles from Earth without killing each other?
Scientists have been studying the Clarkia site for nearly five decades.
Robert Patalano
While NASA rovers on the surface of Mars look for hints of life, researchers back on Earth are studying ‘echoes of life’ from ancient basins – hoping that the two sites might be similar.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS
Mars has been a popular destination since space exploration began – and there are plenty of people who’d love to go there.
The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Among the missions being planned is a huge helicopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan.
The entrance to For All Mankind’s Happy Valley.
Apple
In sci-fi depictions, extraterrestrial habitats have evolved tandem with scientific understanding of conditions on planets
Nearby planets can affect how one planet ‘wobbles’ on its spin axis, which contributes to seasons.
Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
You might hate winter, but at least you know what to expect every year. Other planets have wobbly axes that lead to wild, unpredictable seasons.
Nasa
Moons and asteroids will be visited by spacecraft from Earth next year.
NASA
A Japanese spacecraft is expected to reach Martian orbit in 2025 to collect material from the surface of the moon Phobos before returning to Earth by 2029.
Meteorites can get pricey, but they’re not the most expensive material.
AP Photo/Thibault Camus
Some space rocks you can get for free – if you know how to identify them. Rarer materials cost more, and the asteroid sample NASA just brought back has a high price tag.
Earth and Moon as seen by the Galileo spacecraft from a distance of 6 million km away.
NASA
Control experiments are critical in informing the search for alien life.
With NASA planning more missions to space in the future, scientists are studying how to mitigate health hazards that come with space flight.
AP Photo/John Raoux
Space can damage everything from your cardiovascular and nervous systems to your mental health – long voyages can feel isolating for many.
Is there life beyond our world?
(Shutterstock)
Planetary analogues are sites on Earth that are so extreme that they replicate those of celestial bodies in our solar system.
An artist’s depiction of two astronauts on Mars.
cokada/E+ via Getty Images
If an astronaut were to die on Mars, neither cremation nor burial would be good options.
shutterstock.
Supamotionstock.com/shutterstock
There’s a limit to the amount of oxygen we can carry with us in space – particularly if we want to do long-haul journeys to the Moon and Mars.
Occator crater, Ceres.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
If we could go sightseeing across our cosmic neighbourhood, these would be some of the best highlights.
Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, launched from a spaceport in Texas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The launch of a new rocket is always an exciting event. SpaceX’s ‘go fast and fail’ approach means that even though the test ended with engineers blowing up the rocket, it was a valuable first flight.
Io has volcanism.
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Jupiter’s moon Io has more than 400 active volcanoes on its surface.