If I were on Mars, how often would I see Earth transit the Sun? Steven RiserConyers, Georgia From Mars, Earth transits the Sun four times in a 284-year cycle. The transits occur in either May or ...

Tests conducted with tardigrades suggest that there is something in Martian dirt that dramatically reduces biological ...

Chalk up another victory for “Conan the Bacterium”—a rugged germ that fresh research suggests could conquer the solar system.

A new study shows how simulated Mars dust affects tardigrades, offering insight into space farming and contamination risks.

Why it matters: While not evidence of life, these discoveries show that ancient Mars had complex organic chemistry, ...

What turns an oddly patterned Martian rock into one of the most watched clues in planetary science? For NASA’s Perseverance ...

Learn how bacteria survived a simulated asteroid impact and could travel between planets on asteroid debris.

When I was in middle school, my biology teacher showed our class the sci-fi movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The plot drew me in with its depiction of the “Genesis Project”—a new technology ...

Spiderweb-shaped rock patterns on Mars may rewrite the timeline of when water disappeared from the Red Planet.

Small but mighty, the red planet — our celestial neighbor — has made Earth’s climate what it is today. Mars’ gravitational pull serves as a stabilizing force for our home’s orbit, tilt and position ...

Martians might really exist… In the future. But instead of the aliens of sci-fi movies, martians would be humans born and raised on Mars. Why would your skin be orange? Would you be a different ...

For anyone curious about what it's like to stand on another planet, Earth offers a few convincing previews. Mars may be 140 million miles away, but scientists and movie directors have been finding its ...