Image caption, The spacecraft will head to Mars's larger moon, Phobos A space mission is set to launch on Monday that will attempt to grab a piece of Mars' moon Phobos and bring it back to Earth. If it is successful, this will become the first time a sample has been returned from Mars or its moons to be analysed in laboratories here on Earth. The spacecraft will blast off from Japan and arrive at Phobos in August 2027. It is hoped that the Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, which is led by the Japanese Space Agency, will solve the mystery of how Mars's moons formed. Prof Sara Russell, from the Natural History Museum, who is the MMX mission's deputy for sample analysis, said: There hasn't yet been a successful mission to go to Phobos and bring a bit back to Earth.

Say More Versus Trending Now Look Up In My Bag Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Mashable Selects Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook AI at School All Series Mars without its makeup can look a little blue. Your mental picture of Mars could be wrong. Elisha Sauers writes about space for Mashable, taking deep dives into NASA's moon and Mars missions, chatting up astronauts and history-making discoverers, and jetting above the clouds . Through 17 years of reporting, she's covered a variety of topics, including health, business, and government, with a penchant for public records requests. She previously worked for in Norfolk, Virginia, and in Annapolis, Maryland.

The six-wheeled laboratory has traveled over 28 miles and will keep trucking until at least 2028. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (3.9 meters) from the rover in this image taken April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has officially traveled 28.10 miles--farther across another planet's surface than any other vehicle in history. Not only that, but the six-wheeled science lab accomplished this impressive feat almost entirely autonomously and in barely a third the time it took the previous recordholder.

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You're viewing the US edition You can switch to the UK, AU or IE homepage at any time using this menu. Inside Christa Pike's death chamber: Horrifying minute-by-minute account as Satanist killer sang and cackled with joy during botched execution... and her final words before seven needles left her gasping - but still alive Hell isn't torture enough for Christa Pike. But here's why she still shouldn't be executed: KENNEDY Every shameful detail of custody hearing where killer heiress lost daughter, 4, to private equity lawyer ex... hours before she executed youngster in Texas townhouse and fatally injured herself After losing 60lbs in my fifties, my wrinkled face looked like it was melting. Meghan shows off three new jewellery pieces - including $61,250 gold tennis necklace and $32,550 'Diana' bracelet from California-based brand Has a gift from Meghan to Eugenie ended up on eBay? Mystery as'deeply personal' copy of duchess's book The Bench with heartfelt handwritten note to'Eug and Jack' emerges for sale for £20K The brutal reason Trump's top aides are fleeing the White House in a mass exodus in'highest turnover' in decades Napoleon's code is cracked after 217 years: Scientist uses AI to read a mysterious letter written by the Emperor in 1809 Panic over Kimberly Guilfoyle's outrageous Champagne demand... but she digs in heels as Greek life unravels: 'I need him' As an alcoholic, people ask me all the time how they can stop a loved one drinking so much.

Lights blink on as I enter the Rover Operations Center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, at 7:30 a.m. I'm the first to arrive, even though I already feel late. Sometime during the night on Earth, the Curiosity rover finished its day exploring on Mars and beamed its latest collection of images and measurements to a Mars orbiter zooming by overhead. The orbiter relayed the data to Earth, where it now waits on servers here and at partner institutions around the globe. Once our rover operations shift kicks off at 8:15 a.m., a few dozen engineers and scientists will have just three hours to check the health of the rover, analyze the new science data and agree on the next set of rover activities.

NASA is planning to send three small rovers to the Moon with a single instruction: Work out among yourselves how to explore a patch of ground. The Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration mission, or CADRE, will land on the side of the Moon facing Earth as part of NASA's IM-3 launch, planned for late 2026. These rovers will spend roughly two weeks mapping the terrain as a self-guided team. No joystick will control them, and no human will approve each turn. The rovers will elect a leader among themselves, assign their own tasks and redraw their plans as a group when one of them runs low on charge.

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Look Up Say More Versus Creator Hub Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable Back to School Furtastic All Series Earth plays peekaboo with NASA's Perseverance rover across space Elisha Sauers writes about space for Mashable, taking deep dives into NASA's moon and Mars missions, chatting up astronauts and history-making discoverers, and jetting above the clouds . Through 17 years of reporting, she's covered a variety of topics, including health, business, and government, with a penchant for public records requests. She previously worked for in Norfolk, Virginia, and in Annapolis, Maryland. Her work has earned numerous state awards, including the Virginia Press Association's top honor, Best in Show, and national recognition for narrative storytelling. For each year she has covered space, Sauers has won National Headliner Awards, including first place for her Sex in Space series.

The honeycomb-shaped geometric formations surround an 20-foot-tall butte. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Curiosity has spent over a decade traversing Mount Sharp on Mars. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .