Supersonic parachutes have allowed rovers to safely land on Mars' surface

Viking established entry, descent, and landing methods for future planetary visits

The most significant engineering challenge was slowing the Viking lander, which would move through space at nearly 29,000 kilometers per hour before reaching Mars. This required the invention of supersonic parachute technology, which is still used today.

Internet sleuths solve secret message on Perseverance rover’s Mars parachute

In 2020, the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars, sending a message for the folks back home on its parachute. It took fewer than six hours for the Internet's collective forces to decode the secret slogan hidden in the parachute's colors and patterns, as well as the geographic coordinates of the earth-bound place where rocketry was perfected.

Launched in 2020, NASA's Perseverance rover was equipped with a deployable helicopter

Nicknamed "Percy" and designed as the successor to the Curiosity rover, the vehicle has covered more than 36 kilometers (22 miles), collected dozens of samples, and taken hundreds of images while searching for signs of ancient microbial life.

The first flight on Mars carried a piece of the Wright plane with it

In April 2021, the solar-powered helicopter Ingenuity—attached to NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover—flew in what became the first controlled flight on a planet other than Earth. Carried with it was a piece of fabric from the famous 1903 Wright Flyer, a symbol of Ingenuity’s continuation of the Wright tradition.

View the surface of Mars from NASA's Perseverance

Simulate a visit to the red planet with the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. This 3D interactive experience lets you explore various locations on the martian surface. See closeup images the rover has taken and view key points of interest. It's the next best thing to being there and certainly far safer!

Ambient sounds on Mars are lower-pitched and more muted than those on Earth

The planet's thin atmosphere absorbs higher frequencies, and audio captured by the Perseverance rover from the Ingenuity Mars helicopter revealed that sound waves travel farther than previous atmospheric models suggested.

NASA's ESCAPADE mission will study Mars' atmosphere

The $80M mission—a collaboration between private companies, universities, and NASA—sent two copy machine-sized orbiters on a Blue Origin rocket to the red planet to study its magnetic field and atmospheric loss.

Explore a timeline of every mission to Mars through 2020

The US has conducted the most missions (23) and has the highest success rate (74%), followed by Russia (18 missions at 5%). The first successful orbiter was Mariner 4, while Viking 1 was the first successful lander.

The European Space Agency placed a lander on the surface of a comet in 2014

Launched in 2004, the Rosetta spacecraft performed three flybys of Earth and one of Mars as gravitational slingshots to gain the necessary velocity to successfully place the Philae lander module on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Philae achieved a soft landing only after bouncing twice from failed deployments of its anchoring harpoons.

Dust particles on Mars can generate lightning

Through triboelectric charging, sand and dust on the Martian surface can become electrified when they rub against one another, causing friction to displace electrons and create charged particles. If this matter forms a strong enough electric field, it can overcome atmospheric insulation and produce electrical discharges, resembling lightning on Earth.

The team responsible for the first interplanetary sundials included Bill Nye

While reviewing designs for instruments to be carried by future Mars rovers, Nye suggested adapting the function of a calibration tool, which would be used by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers to help calibrate the brightness and color of their panoramic cameras on the Martian surface.

A 1992 failed parachute test provided the hardware for the first mixed reality system

The Virtual Fixtures platform was developed to improve human dexterity by merging physical and virtual objects with haptic feedback from an upper-body exoskeleton. Tight budgeting and significant equipment needs nearly canceled the project, were it not for salvaging and repairing cameras and sensors from a smashed experimental parachute rig.

Fly through the Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system

Stretching farther than the width of the continental US and with depths as much as four times those of the Grand Canyon, the Valles Marineris is believed to have formed when Mars’s crust tore open during intense volcanism in the planet’s past.

Experts ponder nuclear rockets to send humans to Mars

Nuclear rocket technology might be the fastest, safest way to get to the red planet. But if NASA wants to go, it should start development now.

SpaceX successfully caught a rocket booster in mid-air

As part of the fifth test flight of its Starship system, the Super Heavy booster used high-speed navigation systems, grid fins, and Raptor engines to steer itself onto the mechanical arms of a tower called Mechazilla.

NASA funded research into creating pizza with a 3D printer

The agency awarded a contract for the development of devices that can create edible structures from long-lasting dry powders when mixed with liquids or pastes. By delaying this integration until the time of consumption, food could last longer than the current six-month expiration of freeze-dried meals for Mars expeditions.

Why extremophiles may play an important role in terraforming Mars

Possessing unique biochemicals that can detoxify extreme environments and resilience against the Martian surface that is lethal to humans, scientists are exploring whether colonies of these organisms can transform small areas of the Red Planet into future habitats for humans. Extremophiles may also be best equipped to serve as microscopic factories for the fabrication of essential polymers.

Scientists have diverted the path of lightning using lasers

A proof of concept for a laser protection system, which could be used to protect launchpads and airports in the future, was conducted on the Säntis mountain in northeastern Switzerland. Rapid laser pulses heated air molecules, creating a more conductive, 50-meter (164-foot) path for the electrical discharge to travel through.

Space trash could be cleaned up using a giant inflatable bag

California-based TransAstra has developed and tested a device called Capture Bag, intended to catch anything from small rocks to house-sized boulders. The company claims its system could also be adapted for asteroid capture and mining.

Jupiter’s size forced the creation of modified planetary formation models

Since solar winds remove gases from protoplanetary disks within millions of years of a star’s birth, models needed to provide a mechanism to jump-start Jupiter’s formation and growth. The solution involved incorporating pebbles of matter into the disk.

Travis Pastrana landed the first Moto X double backflip in 2006

At the X Games in 2006, Travis Pastrana became the first to land a double backflip in Moto X competition, earning a perfect score and setting a new benchmark for aerial difficulty.

Space travel sparked inventions we now use every day

Technologies developed for space exploration produced lasting spinoff innovations—from camera phones to memory foam—displaying how the space race reshaped everyday life here on Earth

See technicians use rappelling gear to make wind turbine repairs from 35+ stories up

Although drones are used to conduct initial reviews from the ground, mechanical engineers trained in turbine maintenance face extreme risks during close inspections more than 150 meters off the ground.

The first Super Bowl halftime show featured marching bands and two men on jetpacks

At Super Bowl I, the halftime show featured college marching bands, a rifle drill team, and two performers flying jetpacks, in an era before music stars and spectacle defined the break.

Santa Barbara divers helped innovate deepwater diving technology

Divers in the Santa Barbara channel innovated a more efficient type of diving helmet in the 1960s that used helium to allow for longer, deeper excursions for oil surveying, abalone collecting, and more. These innovators have since set the standard worldwide for military and industrial diving.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Track the location of the Voyager probes, currently between 13 and 15 billion miles away from Earth.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.