Mars is one of our closest neighbors in the solar system and likely the next planet that humans will set foot on. One big reason we’re interested in Mars is because water once flowed there, and may ...

The sound of a rover riding over a jagged Martian rock is similar to the racket of slowly crunching soda cans. How do we know? NASA engineers have rolled wheels across terrains similar to those that ...

The rough terrain of Mars is breaking the wheels of NASA's Curiosity rover. In response, NASA is trying to reinvent the wheel for space exploration. Metals that can "remember" their form, called shape ...

When the Curiosity rover touches down on the surface of Mars in August 2012, it will be the fourth rover to make tracks across the Red Planet in fifteen years. Curiosity, or the Mars Science ...

Soon after NASA's Curiosity rover lands and becomes the hottest set of wheels on Mars, it'll debut as the latest Hot Wheels to land on toy store shelves. Mattel, Inc., makers of the die-cast line of ...

Images captured by Curiosity's onboard cameras show several large tears in the tire of one of the rover's wheels. However, the damage does not appear to be slowing the roaming robot down. When you ...

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto. NASA's ...