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nature.com: Rethinking Mars exploration

What is this article mainly about?

Alexandra Witze wrote "… scientists who participate in the agency’s Mars missions might no longer design and build their own highly specialized payloads to explore the red planet." The word"payload" refers to the things the spaceship could carry.

What does "highly specialized" mean in this context?

How is space travel changing according to this article?

What are the names of the three functioning orbiters NASA sent to Mars?

Who is the head of NASA's Mars exploration program?

(Be careful, spelling matters!)

When does NASA want to start planning a trip to Mars?

Alexandra Wentz also stated that "The agency’s long–running string of spacecraft is winding to a close, and international and commercial interests are on the rise."

What does "international" mean?

In the same quote (below), what does "commercial" mean?

"The agency’s long–running string of spacecraft is winding to a close, and international and commercial interests are on the rise."

One sentence in this nature.com article begins "Throughout the 2000s, NASA sent a sustained barrage of spacecraft to Mars…"

Which phrase best describes what "[t]hroughout the 2000s" means?

One sentence in this nature.com article begins "Throughout the 2000s, NASA sent a sustained barrage of spacecraft to Mars…"

In the same quote, what is another word that means the same as "sustained" in this context?

How do scientists currently get access to telescopes?

What else would you like to learn about NASA's plans to explore Mars?

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Question #2

Which two places are hematite rocks often found?

in standing water

only in outer space

in mineral hot springs

on dusty surfaces like Mars

in plants near the rims of volcanoes

in smoke that spews from volcanoes

on the tops of mountains far from the sea