It's one of the most profound questions in science – did life ever exist on Mars? Now, experts have unearthed evidence that the Red Planet was once habitable. Scientists have found carbon residue in Martian rocks, indicating that an ancient carbon cycle existed. And it means the Red Planet was likely once warm enough to sustain life. Researchers have long believed that, billions of years ago, Mars had a thick, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere with liquid water on its surface.

What does it take to be selected for space missions? Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station reveal the key crucial characteristics that make up "the right stuff." Newly released images from NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover show a 12-hour time-lapse on the red planet from sunrise to sunset. NASA's Curiosity rover was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in November 2011 and landed on Mars in August 2012. Since then, the rover has traveled nearly 20 miles on the red planet, capturing over 1.1 million images.

NASA's Curiosity rover has spent 11 years searching far and wide for signs of life on Mars. And now it has emerged that the car-sized robot may have found something. In 2021, it detected an unusual array of polygon-shaped cracks within the soil that scientists now believe is evidence that the Red Planet once had Earth-like conditions that could have allowed microorganisms to survive 3.6 billion years ago. The mysterious mud cracks on the bed of an ancient lake hint that wet and dry cycles comparable to the seasons we experience on our planet today may have existed on Mars. Such cycles are vital for encouraging the formation of carbon-based'polymers' - known as the building blocks of organic compounds and even DNA.

A strange formation that resembles a bear's face was captured on the surface of the Red Planet by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter last month. Two perfectly placed craters make up the eyes, a hill with a "V-shaped collapse structure" makes up the nose, and a circular fracture pattern forms the head, according to the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, which controls the orbiter's camera. "The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater," the lab explained. "Maybe the nose is a volcanic or mud vent and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?" The University of Arizona released this photo of a formation on the surface of Mars that resembles a bear's face.

Today marks exactly 10 years since NASA's Curiosity rover touched down on Mars. The one-tonne vehicle launched from Earth in November 2011 and – after an arduous nine-month journey which included the'seven minutes of terror' down to the Martian surface – it set out to look for evidence that the Red Planet may once have supported life. Since then, Curiosity has driven nearly 18 miles (29 kilometres) and ascended 2,050 feet (625 metres) as it explores Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp within it. The rover has analysed 41 rock and soil samples, relying on a suite of science instruments to learn what they reveal about Earth's rocky sibling. Such has been its success, what was originally intended to be a two-year mission was later extended indefinitely, leading to a rather busy decade.

NASA's Curiosity rover has snapped a spectacular 360-degree selfie of the Red Planet. The veteran explorer, which was launched to Mars 10 years ago, captured the image using a camera at the end of its robotic arm. It snapped 81 individual pictures to make up the panoramic view of its desolate surroundings. The Curiosity rover's Twitter account shared the images, writing: 'Stop! I took this 360-degree selfie using the Mars Hand Lens Imager at the end of my arm.' Landmarks featured in the selfie include a rock structure behind the rover known as'Greenheugh Pediment', while a hill to the right is'Rafael Navarro Mountain', named after a Curiosity team scientist who died earlier this year.

NASA's Curiosity rover has marked the 10th anniversary of its launch to Mars by sending back a spectacular'picture postcard' from the Red Planet. The robotic explorer snapped two black and white images of the Martian landscape which were then combined and had colour added to them to produce the remarkable composite. Curiosity, which launched to the Red Planet almost exactly 10 years ago on November 26, 2011, took the pictures from its most recent perch on the side of Mars' Mount Sharp. It captures a 360-degree view of its surroundings with its black-and-white navigation cameras each time it completes a drive, before beaming back the panorama to Earth. So inspired were the mission team by the beauty of the landscape, they combined two versions of the black-and-white images from different times of the day and added colours to create a rare postcard, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said.

NASA has marked the Curiosity rover's ninth anniversary on Mars by unveiling a new panoramic image of the Martian landscape, a locale that may explain why the Red Planet became dry. The panoramic image, which was put together on July 3 by stitching 129 individual images together, shows Curiosity's current home, Mount Sharp, a 5-mile-tall mountain inside Mars' Gale Crater. NASA marked the Curiosity rover's ninth anniversary on Mars by unveiling a new panoramic image. The image was created by the rover's Mast Camera, or Mastcam. Upon arrival at Mount Sharp in 2014, Curiosity has been traveling up the rock formation for the past several years.

A small quadrupedal robot named'SpaceBok' is set to be the first powered machine to walk across the surface of Mars. Other rovers on the Red Planet, such as NASA's Perseverance and Curiosity, sport gigantic wheels that limit where they can travel. However, SpaceBok's four legs will allow it to climb over rough terrain and possibly search for signs of life that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. The robot was initially developed to trek across the moon and was programmed to leap instead of walk, but SpaceBok's makers have redesigned it to take on Mars. A small quadrupedal robot named'SpaceBok' will be the first powered machine to walk across the surface of Mars It is not clear when SpaceBok will venture to Mars, but DailyMail.com

NASA's Perseverance rover is slowly trekking across Mars, but we can now hear its tires rolling in the dirt from 239 million miles away. The American space agency shared the first audio of the rover's six tires'banging, pinging and rattling' through the Jezero Crater to search for ancient signs of life. Perseverance, also known as'Perky,' also shared its first encounter with a dust devil that moved right to left behind its robotic arm. A short video sent back to the NASA team that shows a whirling cloud of dust off in the distance and experts say it will cross paths with many more in the future – the Curiosity rover has observed nearly 16 since landing on Mars in 2012. NASA's Perseverance rover is slowly trekking across Mars, but we can now hear its tires rolling in the dirt from 239 million miles away.