NASA Science Briefing: Comet Siding Spring at Mars

NASA plans to use a piece of a martian meteorite as a calibration target for a high-precision laser instrument aboard the agency’s Mars 2020 rover, marking the first round trip for a fragment of the red planet blasted into space during an ancient impact.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded a panoramic view before entering the upper end of a fluid-carved valley that descends the inner slope of a large crater’s rim.

The first sign of trouble from Europe’s Schiaparelli lander came around the time the probe was supposed to jettison its parachute and fire thrusters to brake for touchdown on the vast equatorial plains of Mars, officials said Thursday.