Gray mouse lemurs are more closely related to humans than mice. They also have the ability to hibernate, and researchers are hoping to learn how to transfer that ability to humans.
Artist’s concept of astronauts and human habitats on Mars.
NASA
How ancient microbes survived in a world without oxygen has been a mystery. Scientists discovered a living microbial mat that uses arsenic instead of oxygen for photosynthesis and respiration.
NASA’s Curiosity Rover takes a selfie on Mars in June, 2018.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The Perseverance rover onboard Mars
2020 is our best bet for finding life on the red planet.
The Perseverance Rover (Mars 2020) installed within the upper stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket that will send it to Mars from Florida this week.
Australian scientists have been working on NASA's latest Mars mission for years.
In a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., engineers observed the first driving test for the Mars rover, Perseverance. Perseverance will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize Mars’ climate and geology, and collect samples for a future return to Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Martian meteorites allow scientists here on Earth to decode that planet's geology, more than a decade before the first missions are scheduled to bring rocks back home from Mars.
Over the last 50 years, a lot has changed in rocketry. The fuel that powers spaceflight might finally be changing too.
CSA-Printstock/DIgital Vision Vectors via Getty Images
An update of 50-year-old regulations has kickstarted research into the next generation of rockets. Powered by nuclear fission, these new systems could be the key to faster, safer exploration of space.
Who owns the Moon?
Henglein and Steets/Getty Images
Understanding isolation's effects on regular people, rather than those certified to have 'the right stuff,' will help prepare us for the future, whether another pandemic or interplanetary space travel.