In the frame, NASA’s six-wheeled Perseverance rover is securely planted on a stretch of dirt far to the west of Jezero Crater. You can see its mast dipping down towards Arethusa, the rocky protrusion we’ve all become familiar with, before swinging back around to face the camera full on. Years of driving have created a fine layer of dust on the rover and its wheels, catching the light and creating a beautiful warm glow. Meanwhile, a new circular mark on Arethusa indicates where the rover dug in with its biters and removed a portion of the surface to examine what was hidden beneath. The robotic arm in front, with the WATSON camera attached to its end, is the one that took it all in.

NASA’s Curiosity had spent years gradually ascending the slopes of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater. On April 25, the rover drilled into a rock known as Atacama, which was about a foot and a half across and six inches thick, weighing over thirty pounds. The drill sank in neatly enough to collect the sample the scientists need. The rover then pulled its arm back. The entire rock came with it.

A trio of small helicopters called SkyFall are heading to Mars in late 2028, riding aboard NASA’s first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft. Built on everything the agency learned from Ingenuity, the first helicopter ever flown on another planet, the two vehicles are designed to go considerably further. Each one carries a suite of scientific instruments including high resolution cameras and ground penetrating radar capable of searching for buried ice beneath the surface, with the data collected expected to prove invaluable for planning future human missions to Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover has just reached a small but significant milestone on Mars. After five years of carefully traveling about the bottom of Jezero Crater, the rover now knows exactly where it is without having to rely on a crew on Earth. A new system called Mars Global Localization has made the task possible in less than two minutes, with accuracy to within ten inches.

NASA’s Perseverance rover rolled across the rim of Jezero Crater for 700 feet on December 8, 2025, and another 800 feet a few days later, but these were no ordinary journeys. In fact, this was the first time on another planet that artificial intelligence handled route planning on its own, selecting safe courses without the assistance of human specialists on Earth.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has been trudging about in the Martian sand for over a decade now, transmitting an endless flood of information in the bright Martian sunlight. However, on December 6, 2025, or Sol 4740 of its mission, a significant event in Curiosity’s long mission history took place when engineers used its lights to take a series of photos.

NASA’s Curiosity rover continues to beam back views from Mars that stop people in their tracks cold. Just before the new year, the NASA team released a new panoramic image taken by the rover. It’s essentially a holiday postcard, or a composite of photos taken by the rover itself, blending scenes from morning and late afternoon on the same spot.