Mars

Japan launched the Martian Moons Exploration mission to determine whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or the result of an ancient giant impact on Mars.

High-resolution images from the Curiosity rover reveal elemental sulfur crystals found after a rock was accidentally crushed. The discovery adds to a history of chemical analysis in Gale Crater.

The detection of macromolecular carbon in ancient Martian mudstones suggests Mars may have once been widely habitable, though the origin of the molecules remains unconfirmed.