[NASA JPL] Earth planning date: Friday, July 24, 2026
Robotics/Rovers/UAVs
Posted inMars
IMPRESS: A Planetary Penetrator Network for Astrobiology, Prospecting, and Exploration of Mars
[Astrobiology (Journal)] The International Mars Prospecting Ride-Share System (IMPRESS) is presented here as a scalable, democratized, and low-cost mission architecture for distributed measurements on the martian surface and in the […]
![A close-up of the polygon fractures discovered by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover highlights their honeycomb-like textures. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS [Larger Image]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Curiosity-Mars.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inMars
Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers A Field Of Honeycomb Textures
[NASA] Mission scientists have never seen so many of the many-sided geologic features in one place on the Red Planet.
Posted inMars
Viking Science
[Astrobiology (Journal)] The Viking missions hosted identical payloads on each of two orbiters and landers. All four missions far exceeded their pre-planned operating times and science objectives, with all but […]
Posted inMars
The Viking’s 50 Year Landing Anniversary Astrobiology Special Collection: Reexamining the Revolutionary Impact of Viking on Mars Exploration
[ Astrobiology (Journal) ] The NASA Viking Program laid the framework for Mars science, technology, and exploration.
![This artist’s concept depicts a cutaway view showing Europa’s ice shell. Data used to generate a new result on the ice thickness and structure was collected by the microwave radiometer instrument on NASA’s Juno during a close flyby of the Jovian moon on Sept. 29, 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/Koji Kuramura/ Gerald Eichstädt (CC BY) [Enhanced by Grok via Astrobiology.com]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Why-Europa.jpg?resize=1200%2C752&ssl=1)
Posted inEuropa
Why Europa’s Hidden Ocean May Be More Difficult To Reach Than Scientists Thought
[Rutgers University] Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons, long has fascinated scientists because of what may lie beneath its frozen shell: a global ocean of liquid water.
Posted inExploration Gear & Tech
A Pressure-Supported Pneumatic Architecture for Robust Deep Drilling on Mars: Performance Modeling, Sizing, and Mission Integration.
[Astrobiology] Accessing the martian deep subsurface is a long-standing scientific priority for astrobiology, climate reconstruction, and planetary evolution, yet robotic drilling missions have historically been limited by wellbore instability, loss […]
Posted inMars
NASA Awards STRIDE Contracts For Mars Advanced Surface Mobility Technology
NASA has selected seven companies for contract awards under the Mars Exploration Program’s Science Transport and Robotic Innovation for Deployment and Exploration, or STRIDE, initiative to advance next-generation commercial robotic […]
Posted inMars
MEDaL-1 Mars Lander Science Definition Team
[ESA] Join the Science Definition Team (SDT) to help define the Exploration Science Payload for a proposed future Mars lander: MEDaL-1. Full announcement
Posted inMars
Mars Perseverance Rover’s Panoramic View of Broom Point
[NASA] The bright-colored rocks exposed across the slope, running from middle left to middle right of the image, belong to a formation the science team calls the “Broom Point member,” […]