NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The longest-serving of six spacecraft now studying Mars is up to new tricks for a third two-year extension of its mission to examine the most Earthlike of known foreign planets.

As fall approaches Mars' northern plains, NASA's Phoenix Lander is busy digging into the Red Planet's soil and scooping it into its onboard science laboratories for analysis.

When President John F. Kennedy pitched to send Americans to the moon, he said, "We go … not because it's easy, but because it's hard." It's still hard, said Ken Reightler to a colloquium audience at N...