A “selfie” taken by the Perseverance Mars rover as it examines Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock in the center that contains potential biosignatures of past Martian life. Credit: ...

Update: A minibus spending package passed by the House of Representatives on January 8, 2026, effectively cancels the Mars Sample Return program by eliminating almost all funding for future missions.

In a stunning reversal for planetary science, NASA’s high-profile Mars mission to bring rock samples back to Earth has been canceled following a severe funding cut by the U.S. Congress. The decision ...

NASA aims to return Martian soil and rock samples to Earth in the 2030s, marking the first such planetary sample return mission. A decision on the mission profile is delayed until mid-2026. Two ...