News and Events

[Press] Mars: new evidence of an environment...

Using data from NASA's Curiosity rover, scientists at the CNRS, Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, with the participation of CNES,...

Investigating a tumultuous paleoclimate on Mars

In an article published in April, William Rapin, a research scientist at the IRAP astrophysics and planetology research institute, presents with his team the first indications...

Mars didn’t dry up in one go

The Perseverance rover has just landed on Mars. Meanwhile, its precursor Curiosity continues to explore the base of Mount Sharp (officially Aeolis Mons). Using the telescope on...

ESA's Mars orbiters did not see latest...

The highest burst of methane recorded yet by Curiosity in June, neither recorded by Mars Express nor the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

Mars Express confirms the detection of methane by...

The question is "Is the methane spike microbian or geological?"

Martian organic molecules pique our Curiosity

On 7 June 2018, Science published two important results. The two articles describe the results obtained by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) experiment, on board the Martian rover.

Life on Mars - Curiosity rover identifies methane...

Thursday 8 June, the journal Science announced that the Curiosity rover, using its SAM instrument operated from the Toulouse Space Centre in France, has identified methane and...

[PRESS] CNES tasks 500,000th firing of Curiosity’...

This symbolic achievement is the latest milestone in a unique scientific and technological adventure that has seen 15,000 individual measurements made, over 10 000 images...

Mars exploration. CNES tasks 500,000th firing of...

Science Programmes Committee Meeting focuses on...

A meeting of CNES’s Science Programmes Committee (CPS) was held at CNES headquarters in Paris on Wednesday, 31 May 2017. The CPS advises the CNES Board of Directors on matters...

FIMOC: Martians on Earth

On 6 August, the international Curiosity team celebrated the rover’s fourth (Earth) year on the surface of Mars. The rover hasn’t found any green men on the red planet yet, but...

France-United States space cooperation Curiosity...

The Curiosity rover is today celebrating its second Mars year on the surface of the Red Planet, almost four Earth years since touching down on 6 August 2012. It remains in good...

Jean-Yves Le Gall: “In 2015, CNES will be making...

Monday 5 January, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall delivered his New Year wishes to members of the French and international press in the Salle de l’Espace at Paris Les Halles....

Curiosity celebrates one year on Mars

On 6 August 2012, we followed Curiosity’s Mars landing live on our website. One year on, the rover is in great shape and on course for its primary target, Mount Sharp.

Curiosity makes successful Mars landing

The Curiosity rover, part of America's MSL mission, touched down on the Red Planet on Monday 6 August 2012, according to schedule. A confirmation signal was received at 7:31...

MSL on its way to Mars

Curiosity, the ultra-sophisticated rover on the U.S. Mars Science Laboratory mission, lifted off for Mars on 26 November from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Several French laboratories...

MSL: Gale Crater chosen for Mars exploration in...

NASA has announced the landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The target is an impact crater with an eroded mountain at its centre. French teams are part of...

A French instrument on Mars in 2012

The SAM suite of instruments, which will study the organic composition of the Martian soil and atmosphere for the MSL mission, is all set to go. A French team is involved in the...