An orbiting spacecraft has discovered a key mineral in bedrock on the surface of Mars that suggests the planet might once have had an environment hospitable to life, scientists reported today.

US space agency Nasa is delaying a mission to Mars that already had been over budget and will get even more costly.

A Nasa spacecraft successfully slipped into orbit around Mars, joining a trio of orbiters already circling the Red Planet after a critical firing of its engA Nasa spacecraft successfully slipped into orbit around Mars, joining a trio of orbiters already circling the Red Planet after a critical firing of its engines.

Nasa will try again today to launch a spacecraft to Mars that is designed to gather more data on the planet than all previous Martian missions combined.

Two days after bringing Discovery home, Nasa prepared today to launch a spacecraft to Mars with new tools designed to gather more data on the planet than all previous Martian missions combined.

THE scientist who led the Beagle 2 mission is pressing the US space agency NASA to take a new version of the British probe to Mars, it was revealed yesterday.