This image comes to you from Mount Etna, Sicily, where a lunar analog study focusing on robotic exploration is currently unfolding.

The project—named the ARCHES Space-Analog Demonstration—is a multi-agency, multi-robot event brought to life by the German Aerospace Center DLR, and featuring significant ESA participation. ESA will be joining the project to run the latest and final part of the Analog-1 campaign, the completion of which will mark the culmination of one of the agency's long-term research endeavors, dating back to 2008.

For four weeks spanning 12 June to 9 July, the project will explore the operations and technologies that enable a sample return mission on the lunar surface involving an astronaut on the Lunar Gateway with a rover operations control room on Earth and scientific expertise on-hand at other control centers.

As part of the simulation, ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter will control a rover stationed 2,600 m up on the slopes of Mt. Etna from a room 23 km away in the nearby town of Catania. This distance simulates the sort of remote-control situations astronauts will encounter at the lunar Gateway.

NASA wants its moon dust and cockroaches back.

The space agency has asked Boston-based RR Auction to halt the sale of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had subsequently been fed to cockroaches during an experiment to determine if the lunar rock contained any sort of pathogen that posed a threat to terrestrial life.

Scientists are about to get a new look at Mars, thanks to a multicolored 5.6-gigapixel map. Covering 86% of the Red Planet's surface, the map reveals the distribution of dozens of key minerals. By looking at mineral distribution, scientists can better understand Mars' watery past and can prioritize which regions need to be studied in more depth.

The first portions of this map were released by NASA's Planetary Data System. Over the next six months, more will be released, completing one of the most detailed surveys of the Martian surface ever made.