Martian Surface
- All
- News
- Videos
- Web Stories
-
ESA Reveals City-Size ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Crater on Mars Containing Signs of Ancient Water
ESA has captured a city-sized butterfly-shaped crater on Mars with smooth wings likely formed by melted underground ice. Studying this rare structure helps scientists understand asteroid impacts, Mars’ surface ice, and the planet’s ancient watery past while offering insight into how unusual crater formations develop on the Red Planet.
-
AI-Assisted Study Finds No Evidence of Liquid Water in Mars’ Seasonal Dark Streaks
A large-scale AI analysis of more than two million Mars orbiter images shows that the planet’s dark slope streaks form through seasonal dust avalanches, not flowing briny water. The results settle a long-running debate, revealing that wind-driven dust activity shapes Mars’ surface and offering new insights into the planet’s climate past and e...
-
ESA’s Mars Express Discovers Deep Valleys and Frozen Features Hinting at Mars’ Icy Past
In July 2025, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high-resolution image of Acheron Fossae, a region marked by deep chasms and ridges on Mars’s surface. These features, created by ancient crustal stretching, split the terrain into raised horsts and sunken grabens. Valley floors reveal smooth surfaces carved by slow-moving...
-
NASA's Curiosity Rover Spots Coral-Shaped Rock On Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recently sent back black and white images of a rock on the Martian surface that looks remarkably like a piece of coral.
-
Glaciers On Mars Are Mostly Water Ice, Study Finds
Scientists used the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the glaciers.
-
Mars Dust Devils May Spark Lightning, Might Pose Risks to Rovers: Study
A new computer-modeling study reveals that dust devils on Mars—swirling columns of dust and air—may become electrically charged enough to spark lightning-like discharges. Led by researcher Varun Sheel, the study simulates how dry Martian conditions and frictional collisions between dust grains can generate strong electric fields inside these vo...
-
Is Mars Really Red? A Physicist Explains the Science Behind Its Colour and More
A physicist explains the science behind Mars’s red appearance, linking its hue to iron oxide or rust. While known as the Red Planet, rover images and telescope data show varied colors, from tan to white ice caps. Observations in ultraviolet and infrared light reveal deeper insights into Mars’s atmosphere, surface, and seasonal changes, enrichin...
-
Curiosity Rover Reaches Uyuni Quad, Begins New Mars Mapping and Surface Analysis Campaign
NASA’s Curiosity rover has entered the Uyuni quad on Mars, beginning a new leg of its mission. The rover completed a 48-metre drive and is now collecting fresh data on sedimentary textures and surface chemistry. With a focus on remote sensing and contact science, the team hopes to uncover clues about past Martian environments.
-
The Promise And Peril Of A Crewed Mars Mission
Mars mission would pursue scientific objectives like determining whether Mars ever hosted life and charting the evolution of its surface, as well as answering broader questions -- such as the history of the Sun through studying Martian soil.
-
MAVEN Reveals How Mars Lost Its Atmosphere and Became a Barren World
NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of "sputtering"—a powerful atmospheric escape process where solar wind particles blast atoms off Mars. The newly published study confirms that this process played a major role in the Red Planet’s transformation from a once-wet, habitable world to its current barren state. Argon ga...
-
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Deimos Before Dawn in Striking Martian Sky Image
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a rare pre-dawn image of Mars’ moon Deimos on Sol 1433, stitching together 16 long-exposure shots into a 52-second composition. Despite image noise and cosmic interference, the photo reveals Deimos, stars like Regulus and Algieba, and Martian sky conditions, highlighting the rover’s expanding role in celesti...
-
Water on Ancient Mars? New Study Challenges the Cold Planet Theory
Scientists have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that early Mars was surprisingly wet, featuring extensive networks of lakes and river basins shaped by rainfall and snowfall. This challenges long-held views of a predominantly cold and icy ancient Mars. Despite current climate models struggling to explain sustained liquid water on the Red Pl...
-
New Study Challenges Claims of Vast Underground Water on Mars
Mars’ water history remains a mystery as new research questions the claim that vast amounts of water are stored beneath its surface. A study led by Bruce Jakosky argues that previous estimates of Mars’ mid-crust being saturated with liquid water may be inaccurate. The findings challenge earlier interpretations of seismic data from NASA’s InSi...
-
Ancient Martian Ocean Shoreline Discovered Beneath Surface by Zhurong Rover
China's Zhurong rover has uncovered evidence of an ancient ocean on Mars, with ground-penetrating radar detecting a buried shoreline beneath the Utopia Basin. The rover’s scans revealed sloping sand layers similar to those found on Earth’s beaches, reinforcing theories of long-term water presence. Experts highlight that these formations are not...
-
Curiosity Rover Observes Iridescent Clouds on Mars, Offering New Insights
NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured rare iridescent clouds drifting across the Martian sky, observed at high altitudes in twilight conditions. These carbon dioxide ice clouds were seen forming between 60 and 80 kilometres above the surface before evaporating as they descended. Scientists believe their presence hints at unknown cooling mechanisms ...
-
ESA Reveals City-Size ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Crater on Mars Containing Signs of Ancient Water
ESA has captured a city-sized butterfly-shaped crater on Mars with smooth wings likely formed by melted underground ice. Studying this rare structure helps scientists understand asteroid impacts, Mars’ surface ice, and the planet’s ancient watery past while offering insight into how unusual crater formations develop on the Red Planet.
-
AI-Assisted Study Finds No Evidence of Liquid Water in Mars’ Seasonal Dark Streaks
A large-scale AI analysis of more than two million Mars orbiter images shows that the planet’s dark slope streaks form through seasonal dust avalanches, not flowing briny water. The results settle a long-running debate, revealing that wind-driven dust activity shapes Mars’ surface and offering new insights into the planet’s climate past and e...
-
ESA’s Mars Express Discovers Deep Valleys and Frozen Features Hinting at Mars’ Icy Past
In July 2025, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high-resolution image of Acheron Fossae, a region marked by deep chasms and ridges on Mars’s surface. These features, created by ancient crustal stretching, split the terrain into raised horsts and sunken grabens. Valley floors reveal smooth surfaces carved by slow-moving...
-
NASA's Curiosity Rover Spots Coral-Shaped Rock On Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recently sent back black and white images of a rock on the Martian surface that looks remarkably like a piece of coral.
-
Glaciers On Mars Are Mostly Water Ice, Study Finds
Scientists used the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the glaciers.
-
Mars Dust Devils May Spark Lightning, Might Pose Risks to Rovers: Study
A new computer-modeling study reveals that dust devils on Mars—swirling columns of dust and air—may become electrically charged enough to spark lightning-like discharges. Led by researcher Varun Sheel, the study simulates how dry Martian conditions and frictional collisions between dust grains can generate strong electric fields inside these vo...
-
Is Mars Really Red? A Physicist Explains the Science Behind Its Colour and More
A physicist explains the science behind Mars’s red appearance, linking its hue to iron oxide or rust. While known as the Red Planet, rover images and telescope data show varied colors, from tan to white ice caps. Observations in ultraviolet and infrared light reveal deeper insights into Mars’s atmosphere, surface, and seasonal changes, enrichin...
-
Curiosity Rover Reaches Uyuni Quad, Begins New Mars Mapping and Surface Analysis Campaign
NASA’s Curiosity rover has entered the Uyuni quad on Mars, beginning a new leg of its mission. The rover completed a 48-metre drive and is now collecting fresh data on sedimentary textures and surface chemistry. With a focus on remote sensing and contact science, the team hopes to uncover clues about past Martian environments.
-
The Promise And Peril Of A Crewed Mars Mission
Mars mission would pursue scientific objectives like determining whether Mars ever hosted life and charting the evolution of its surface, as well as answering broader questions -- such as the history of the Sun through studying Martian soil.
-
MAVEN Reveals How Mars Lost Its Atmosphere and Became a Barren World
NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of "sputtering"—a powerful atmospheric escape process where solar wind particles blast atoms off Mars. The newly published study confirms that this process played a major role in the Red Planet’s transformation from a once-wet, habitable world to its current barren state. Argon ga...
-
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Deimos Before Dawn in Striking Martian Sky Image
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a rare pre-dawn image of Mars’ moon Deimos on Sol 1433, stitching together 16 long-exposure shots into a 52-second composition. Despite image noise and cosmic interference, the photo reveals Deimos, stars like Regulus and Algieba, and Martian sky conditions, highlighting the rover’s expanding role in celesti...
-
Water on Ancient Mars? New Study Challenges the Cold Planet Theory
Scientists have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that early Mars was surprisingly wet, featuring extensive networks of lakes and river basins shaped by rainfall and snowfall. This challenges long-held views of a predominantly cold and icy ancient Mars. Despite current climate models struggling to explain sustained liquid water on the Red Pl...
-
New Study Challenges Claims of Vast Underground Water on Mars
Mars’ water history remains a mystery as new research questions the claim that vast amounts of water are stored beneath its surface. A study led by Bruce Jakosky argues that previous estimates of Mars’ mid-crust being saturated with liquid water may be inaccurate. The findings challenge earlier interpretations of seismic data from NASA’s InSi...
-
Ancient Martian Ocean Shoreline Discovered Beneath Surface by Zhurong Rover
China's Zhurong rover has uncovered evidence of an ancient ocean on Mars, with ground-penetrating radar detecting a buried shoreline beneath the Utopia Basin. The rover’s scans revealed sloping sand layers similar to those found on Earth’s beaches, reinforcing theories of long-term water presence. Experts highlight that these formations are not...
-
Curiosity Rover Observes Iridescent Clouds on Mars, Offering New Insights
NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured rare iridescent clouds drifting across the Martian sky, observed at high altitudes in twilight conditions. These carbon dioxide ice clouds were seen forming between 60 and 80 kilometres above the surface before evaporating as they descended. Scientists believe their presence hints at unknown cooling mechanisms ...
