Lift off for Nasa's Mars probe
Nasa launches a spacecraft on a nine-month trip to Mars, where it will search for signs of past or present life.

Request for Mars rover price
European industry receives the formal request to cost the design and construction of a robotic rover to send to the Red Planet in 2013.

Mars dust storms threaten rovers
Dust storms raging on Mars pose the worst threat yet to Nasa's robot rovers, the US space agency says.

Volunteers sought for Mars test
The European Space Agency will put six volunteers in an isolation tank for 17 months to simulate a Mars mission.

Design boost for European rover
The ExoMars project to land a European robot rover on the Red Planet moves forward with an enhanced design.

Days ahead crucial for Mars rover
Talks to resolve the design of Europe's rover mission to Mars are converging on a "best solution for science".

Mars-probe failure 'human error'
Nasa says human error was to blame for the failure of the $247m Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.

'Cave entrances' spotted on Mars
Scientists studying pictures from Nasa's Odyssey spacecraft spot what they think may be caves on Mars.

Polar water 'would blanket Mars'
Enough water is locked up at Mars' south pole to cover the Red Planet in a liquid layer 11m deep, say scientists.

Success for Mars rover bag test
Engineers test an airbag system that could be used to cushion a European rover's landing on Mars.

Space agencies will 'co-ordinate'
Fourteen space agencies have agreed to co-ordinate future space exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Russia, China aim for Red Planet
China will launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars, a "milestone" in space co-operation between the two countries.

European Mars launch delayed
The European Space Agency will delay the launch of its rover mission to Mars from 2011 to 2013.

Phoenix lander gets go-ahead
The US space agency has given the green light to Phoenix, its next mission to land on the surface of Mars.

Beagle 2 'could go to the Moon'
Scientists behind the UK's ill-fated Beagle 2 Mars mission say a near-identical probe could be used on the Moon.

Frozen sea may harbour Mars life
A frozen sea found on Mars is one of the most promising places to look for life on the Red Planet, scientists say.

Beagle 2 probe 'spotted' on Mars
New images of Mars may show the British-built probe Beagle 2, the scientist behind the project says.

Martian gases pose life question
A Mars science conference is told methane and formaldehyde together in the planet's atmosphere could indicate present-day life.

Ice belt 'encircled Mars equator'
Europe's Mars Express probe may have found evidence of a thick band of ice that once spanned the Martian equator.

Rover may get one-way ticket
The chief scientist on Nasa's Mars rover mission mulls whether to send Opportunity on a risky trip into a crater.

US mission lands safely on Mars
A Nasa space probe sends back images of the barren, rocky surface of Mars within hours of arrival.

Mars probe 'in great shape'
The robotic probe Spirit has landed in a prime spot for exploring the Red Planet.

Q/A: Robots on Mars
The first of Nasa's new generation of robotic explorers is going to search for water on Mars. BBC News Online speaks to deputy mission manager Mark Adler.