{"id":678852,"date":"2026-09-08T16:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T16:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/678852\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T16:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T16:53:15","slug":"nasas-newest-mars-images-offer-striking-clues-to-earths-neighbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/678852\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA’s newest Mars images offer striking clues to Earth’s neighbor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mars we know<\/a> may appear at first glance to be a barren, dusty landscape. But evidence suggests Earth’s planetary neighbor was once a vibrant world with flowing water, active volcanoes and even simple life-forms.<\/p>\n

For that reason, scientists regard the Red Planet as one of the best places in our solar system<\/a> for humanity to look for signs we were not alone. Finding those vital clues would in turn reveal more information about Earth’s own place in the cosmos<\/a> and how our planet came to be.<\/p>\n

To that end, robotic NASA vehicles have spent decades scouring Mars from above and on the ground. Today, that includes two active car-sized rovers<\/a> and two active orbiters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want a look at what those vehicles have recently observed on Mars<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Groundbreaking observatory begins 10-year mission exploring the cosmos<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

This is a section from a larger image the Vera C. Rubin Observatory captured referred to as the “ocean of stars.” The view shows millions of multi-colored stars against a backdrop of galaxies close to the Milky Way\u2019s plane, the crowded disk of the galaxy. (NSF\u2013DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory\/NOIRLab\/SLAC\/AURA)<\/p>\n

As NASA prepares to send the first astronauts to Mars<\/a> in a matter of years, here are some recent photos of the Red Planet.<\/p>\n

Stunning photos from orbiters, rovers reveal striking Mars featuresImages from Mars spacecraft show red planet in stunning detail<\/p>\n

1 of 20<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie on March 11, 2026, during the rover\u2019s deepest push west beyond Jezero Crater. The photo was assembled from 61 individual images.<\/p>\n

Perseverance, along with Curiosity, is one of two NASA rovers<\/a> that have spent years exploring Mars’ surface to uncover secrets about Earth’s planetary neighbor and find evidence that Mars once harbored life.<\/p>\n

(Provided by NASA)What is NASA’s Perseverance rover?\"NASA's<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie on March 11, 2026 during the rover\u2019s deepest push west beyond Jezero Crater. The photo was assembled from 61 individual images<\/p>\n

After launching in 2020, Perseverance<\/a> made a 200-day, 300-million-mile journey\u00a0to Mars<\/a>‘ Jezero Crater in February 2021. Believed to have\u00a0formed 3.9 billion years ago from a massive impact, the Jezero Crater shows evidence of having once been filled with water.<\/p>\n

At the end of 2024, after years in the trenches of Jezero, Perseverance\u00a0summited the steep Martian crater<\/a>\u00a0to begin\u00a0the next leg of its journey\u00a0on the rim.<\/p>\n

Exploring in and around the crater, Perseverance is searching for signs of ancient microbial life and other remnants of Mars’ earliest years<\/a> billions of years ago. The rover also has studied phenomenon like<\/a> “dust devils.”<\/p>\n

In September 2025, NASA announced that a discovery<\/a> from the rover \u2013 a potential biosignature in a rock sample \u2013 was the closest scientists had ever come to finding actual signs of past life on the planet.<\/p>\n

What is NASA’s Curiosity rover?<\/p>\n

East of Perseverance, the Curiosity<\/a> rover began its voyage to Mars in November 2011<\/a>, landing in August 2012 in the Gale Crater on the boundary between Mars’ cratered southern highlands and its smooth northern plains. While exploring the crater, believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago, Curiosity has collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm.<\/p>\n

As the iconic rover<\/a> climbs 3-mile-high Mount Sharp, it is searching for evidence that Mars was once hospitable to life. To that end, the rover has been behind a slew of recent discoveries<\/a>, including observations of never-before-seen organic compounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What orbiters are active on Mars?<\/p>\n

NASA has two active orbiters circling Mars.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2001,\u00a0Odyssey<\/a>\u00a0is the longest-running mission orbiting any planet besides Earth.<\/p>\n

Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Odyssey completed its primary science mission from February 2002 through August 2004. Since then, the orbiter has set out to study Martian clouds, fog and frost while mapping the surface to pave the way for crewed landings.<\/p>\n

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter<\/a> has been circling the Red Planet since 2006, primarily on a mission to find evidence that water existed on Mars for long periods of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NASA’s MAVEN<\/a> spacecraft ended its missions after more than 11 years in orbit after it experienced an unexpected loss of signal Dec. 6, 2025, while passing behind Mars.<\/p>\n

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA’s newest Mars images offer striking clues to Earth’s neighbor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mars we know may appear at first glance to be a barren, dusty landscape. But evidence suggests…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[270],"tags":[18,19,17,1203,1024,287316,143708,133,451],"class_list":["post-678852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mars","tag-nasa","tag-nasas-curiosity","tag-nasas","tag-science","tag-space"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117236467013728401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}