2 October 2025
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Latest News
  • [ 24 September 2025 ] Nova outburst in Centaurus News
  • [ 12 September 2025 ] Astronomy Now relaunches digital platform News
  • [ 8 September 2025 ] Potentially habitable planet TRAPPIST-1e displays tentative evidence for an atmosphere News
  • [ 18 August 2025 ] Ten-Year Lease Extension Confirmed at Herstmonceux Observatory News
  • [ 10 August 2025 ] Venus and Jupiter’s bright morning conjunction News
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Mars Sample Return

News

Engineers troubleshoot Mars rover sample collection failure

7 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers are assessing an initial, unsuccessful attempt by the Perseverance Mars rover to collect its first rock sample from the floor of Jezero Crater.

News

Perseverance Mars rover poised to collect first rock samples

23 July 2021 Astronomy Now

Five months after landing in Jezero Crater, the Perseverance Mars rover is finally ready to begin collecting samples for eventual return to Earth.

News

Now you see it, now you don’t: what happened to Mars’ water?

16 March 2021 Astronomy Now

New research indicates most of the water that once flowed and pooled on Mars may still be there, locked in minerals making up the planet’s crust.

News

NASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars

29 April 2020 Stephen Clark

After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, NASA has settled on a solid-fueled design for a miniature rocket with a first-of-its-kind purpose: Launching a payload from Mars for a trip back to Earth.

News

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover passes first driving test on road to red planet

21 December 2019 Astronomy Now

In another major milestone on the road to launch next year, NASA’s Mars 2020 rover passed its first weight-on-wheels driving test with flying colours.

News

NASA studies mission to return samples from Mars by end of 2020s

29 August 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA is examining options to launch a robotic mission as soon as 2026 to pick up rock specimens from the surface of Mars and bring them back to Earth, moving forward the timeline for a sample return mission as the agency postpones plans for a new Mars reconnaissance and data relay orbiter.

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News Headlines

  • Nova outburst in Centaurus
    24 September 2025
  • Astronomy Now relaunches digital platform
    12 September 2025
  • Potentially habitable planet TRAPPIST-1e displays tentative evidence for an atmosphere
    8 September 2025
  • Ten-Year Lease Extension Confirmed at Herstmonceux Observatory
    18 August 2025
  • Graphic showing the close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus with other stars and contellations marked on a dark sky, above a horizon with trees in silhouette.
    Venus and Jupiter’s bright morning conjunction
    10 August 2025
  • Home
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