NASA said it has received 400 mission concepts from scientists and engineers for a future Mars mission. Scientists and engineers submitted their ideas to the Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration Workshop in Houston.

Sensors would punch into soil, run range of tests

A proposed Discovery mission concept led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to investigate the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets by studying the deep interior of Mars now has a new name, InSight.

Eight years after landing on Mars for what was planned as a three-month mission, NASA's enduring Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is working on what essentially became a new mission five months ago.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan.