NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image of “Santa Cruz,” a hill about 1.5 miles away from the rover, on April 29, 2021, the 68th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The entire scene is inside of Mars’ Jezero Crater; the crater’s rim can be seen on the horizon line beyond the hill. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS)

NASA’S Ingenuity helicopter takes flight on Mars. We get an update on the space agency’s most ambitious mission to date on the Red Planet from local astronomer and space enthusiast Mark Hammergren. 

In this image from NASA, the experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity casts a shadow as it hovers above the surface of the planet on Monday, April 19, 2021. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. (NASA via AP)

NASA’s experimental helicopter Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday, achieving the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet.

This combination of images from video made available by NASA shows steps in the descent of the Mars Perseverance rover as it approaches the surface of the planet on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

NASA on Monday released the first high-quality video of a spacecraft landing on Mars, a three-minute trailer showing the enormous orange and white parachute hurtling open and the red dust kicking up as rocket engines lowered the rover to the surface.

Mars visualization with satellite imagery overlay. (Kevin Gill / Flickr)

The SpaceX founder aims to create a fleet of reusable rockets that will make space travel dramatically cheaper and more accessible. But can he turn what has long been science fiction into science fact?

An artist’s concept of an O’Neill cylinder. (Courtesy Blue Origin)

Could Jeff Bezos’ vision of giant rotating habitats one day support millions of people in space? We speak with two experts about humankind’s future in space. 

NASA InSight’s first full “selfie” on Mars, taken Dec. 6, 2018, displays the lander’s solar panels and deck. On top of the deck are its science instruments, weather sensor booms and UHF antenna. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech)

From amazing new vistas of Mars to a little rover bouncing on a distant asteroid, an exploration of recent achievements in outer space with Adler Planetarium astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz.

This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s InSight lander after it has deployed its instruments on the Martian surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

It took six months, a voyage of 300 million miles and a final “seven minutes of terror,” but NASA’s InSight spacecraft on Monday touched down on Mars in a landing the craft’s chief engineer called “flawless.”

Mars is bright in the summer sky this week. (Credit: NASA / JPL / USGS)

For the next several days, the celestial event calendar includes some stellar highlights for observers in Chicago and around the globe.

This computer-generated image depicts part of Mars at the boundary between darkness and daylight. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Later this month, the red planet will be just 35.8 million miles away – the brightest and closest it’s been to Earth since 2003.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has discovered ancient organic molecules on Mars, embedded within sedimentary rocks that are billions of years old. (Credit: NASA / GSFC)

A tantalizing discovery suggests that life could once have existed on Mars – and may still exist today. We get the latest on the red planet with Adler Planetarium astronomer Mark Hammergren.

This computer-generated image depicts part of Mars at the boundary between darkness and daylight. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Could a new space race led by private entrepreneurs take humans to Mars and beyond? Futurist and best-selling author Michio Kaku talks about humanity’s destiny to colonize the solar system and reach for the stars.

(NASA)

Adler Planetarium astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz will spend the next year figuring out how humans can get along while exploring one of the more curious planets in our solar system: Mars. 

SpaceX's Falcon 9, left, and Blue Origin's New Shepard. (SpaceX / Flickr, Franke360 / Wikimedia)

Tech billionaire Elon Musk wants to create a colony on Mars. Assessing the challenges–and his chances of success.

For the first time in a decade, five planets will be visible at the same time in the pre-dawn sky – and you won't need a telescope to see them.

Ridley Scott's film 'The Martian'

The new Matt Damon movie "The Martian" rocketed to the top of the box-office this past weekend, but how accurate is its rocket science? Our panelists give us their review of the physics and psychology of the cinematic trip to Mars.

The 25th anniversary of the Hubble telescope is this month, scientists find a potential breakthrough in our understanding of Alzheimer's disease, and the likelihood of finding life on Mars just went up. Rabiah Mayas, Director of Science and Integrated Strategies at the Museum of Science and Industry, rounds up the top local and international science news.