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An artist's depiction of a rocket blasting carefully packed Mars samples off the planet's surface for the journey to Earth.

Bringing Mars samples to Earth could cost an extra $1 billion, but NASA should totally do it, experts say

By Meghan Bartels

Holding a pristine piece of Mars in a lab on Earth is among the most ambitious dreams of planetary scientists, and NASA and its European counterpart want to make the dream a reality.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at a location nicknamed "Mary Anning" after a 19th-century English paleontologist. Curiosity collected three samples of drilled rock at this site on its way out of the Glen Torridon region, which scientists believe preserves an ancient habitable environment.

NASA's Curiosity rover snaps stunning selfie on Mars (photo)

By Mike Wall

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has taken another selfie, just a few months before its six-wheeled cousin joins it on the Red Planet.

NASA's Perseverance rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the Martian surface for future missions to retrieve and bring back to Earth.

NASA's next Mars rover will land in less than 100 days

By Mike Wall

The life-hunting Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which launched on July 30, is scheduled to land inside Jezero Crater on the afternoon of Feb. 18, 2021.

There seems to be a network of underground bodies of liquid water at Mars’ south pole.

Mars: Mounting evidence for subglacial lakes, but could they really host life?

By David Rothery

The best place for life on Mars might be more than a kilometre below its surface!

Six images of Saturn's moon Titan that incorporate 13 years of data gathered by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Saturn's moon Titan has a weird organic chemical in its atmosphere

By Meghan Bartels

Saturn's moon Titan just keeps getting weirder — and more tantalizing when it comes to scientists' hopes for life beyond Earth.

Artist's illustration of Kepler-186f, the first roughly Earth-sized alien planet ever found in the habitable zone of its parent star.

More than half of all sunlike stars in the Milky Way may have a habitable planet

By Mike Wall

On average, each sunlike star in the Milky Way likely harbors between 0.4 and 0.9 rocky planets in its "habitable zone," researchers have found.

Artist's impression of an exoplanet transiting a red dwarf star.

Aliens watching us? Scientists spot 1,000 nearby stars where E.T. could detect life on Earth

By Mike Wall

As humanity ramps up its search for alien life, we should keep in mind that E.T. might be hunting for us as well.

An artist's depiction of a rocky, Earth-size exoplanet.

These alien planets may be more habitable for life than our own Earth

By Charles Q. Choi

Two dozen alien worlds may be as good as or better than Earth for life as we know it, a new study finds.

This artist's impression shows a superflare emitted by a distant star.

'Superflares' may make it hard for life to begin around dwarf stars

By Mike Wall

Powerful stellar eruptions could pose a serious challenge to the origin and evolution of life around the universe, a new study suggests.

A NASA illustration shows the Pioneer 13 probes descending toward the clouds of Venus.

Did NASA detect a hint of life on Venus in 1978 and not realize it?

By Rafi Letzter

What if scientists had started hunting for life on Venus in 1978?

An artist's depiction of the Enceladus Orbilander mission concept.

If we want to find life on Saturn's moon Enceladus, we need to rule out Earthly hitchhikers

By Meghan Bartels

Want to find life in an exotic corner of the solar system like Saturn's icy moon Enceladus?

Catching a ride on a drone, OrganiCam could swoop into lava-tube caves on Mars to search for organic molecules marked by the tell-tale signature of life.

A better way to search for traces of life on Mars — and beyond! (op-ed)

By Patrick Gasda

Meet OrganiCam, an instrument that could detect biological molecules on other worlds.

An artist's depiction of the Enceladus Orbilander mission concept.

Where to next in the outer solar system? Scientists have big ideas to explore icy moons and more.

By Meghan Bartels

If you had a few billion dollars and some of the most talented space scientists and engineers in the world, where would you go?

This image of Venus was created using data that NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft collected on Feb. 7 and 8, 1974, shortly after the spacecraft's closest approach to Venus on Feb. 5.

Earth life may have traveled to Venus aboard sky-skimming asteroid

By Mike Wall

If there is indeed life on Venus, it may have come from Earth — aboard an asteroid that scooped up microbes high in our skies.

In these detailed infrared images of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, reddish areas indicate fresh ice that has been deposited on the surface.

Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus has fresh ice in unexpected place

By Elizabeth Howell

Saturn's geyser-spewing moon Enceladus may be even more active than scientists had thought.

"The Smallest Lights in the Universe" by Sara Seager.

'The Smallest Lights in the Universe' explores the possibilities of life on Earth and far beyond it

By Meghan Bartels

MIT astronomer Sara Seager has a quest: to find a second Earth. That scientific quest has developed and persisted against the backdrop of a personal life full of adventure, love and heartbreak.

An artist's depiction of a fleet of probes approaching Venus.

After a tantalizing discovery at Venus, what could an astrobiology mission look like?

By Meghan Bartels

Suddenly, a mission to investigate whether Venus might be hospitable to life after all doesn't seem quite so outlandish.

An image of Venus' thick atmosphere captured by NASA's Mariner 10 mission.

Rocket Lab's plan to search for life on Venus in 2023 just got more exciting

By Mike Wall

Rocket Lab's life-hunting Venus mission in 2023 will be just the beginning, if all goes according to the company's plan.

An artist's concept showing a super-Venus on the left and Earth on the right.

Venus, once billed as Earth's twin, is a hothouse (and a tantalizing target in the search for life)

By Nola Taylor Redd

As Earth's twin, Venus offers much in the search for life and habitable worlds.

Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft captured this false-color image of Venus' dayside on March 30, 2018.

Life on Venus? Breakthrough Initiatives funds study of possible biosignature detection

By Mike Wall

The main goals involve investigating the case for life on Venus and figuring out the best ways to hunt it down, if it is indeed there.