NASA's InSight Mars lander touches down Nov. 26, part of a careful robotic approach to exploring the red planet. But human exploration of Mars will inevitably introduce Earth life. Are you OK with that?
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Articles on Habitable planets
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Nearly 50 years since the first man walked on the moon, our morals are still stranded on Earth.
When NASA first started planning the Kepler mission, no one knew if the universe held any planets outside our solar system. Thousands of exoplanets later, the search enters a new phase as Kepler retires.
Aliens are highly likely to undergo natural selection, shows new research.
Planetary protection protocols try to make sure we don't seed places like Mars with life from our planet. An astrobiologist argues they're misguided – especially with human astronauts on the horizon.
You may even be able to find other planets around the star closest to our solar system.
The planet is more similar to Earth than any other – except when it comes to supporting life.
Top contributors
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Professor of Astronomy, Vanderbilt University
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Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Space Plasma Physicist, Imperial College London
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Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences & the Center for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews
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Research Scientist at Centro de Astrobiología, Spain, and Visiting Scientist in Astronomy, Cornell University
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PhD in Evolutionary Biology, University of Oxford
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Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of St Andrews
