Comet Siding Spring Animation

NASA’s newest Mars orbiter has formally started a one-year research campaign to study an ancient case of climate change that starved the red planet of water, breathable air and potential life, scientists said Monday.

A small helicopter that will be delivered by NASA’s Mars 2020 rover has successfully completed initial test flights in a simulated martian environment.

The InSight Mars lander has won a reprieve from NASA’s top managers after persistent problems with one of the probe’s science instruments caused the mission to miss a narrow launch window planned for this month.