It's the summer of Mars

Good morning, friends of The Short List! 

While things on Earth have been ~ a bit ~ chaotic lately, I thought we might want to focus a molecule of our attention on a space where some pretty cool things are happening: Space! 

In the past few weeks, two spacecraft have been launched to Mars, and on Thursday, one more was sent. Here's why that's a big deal: It's bringing NASA one step closer in taking humans to Mars. 

But that's not all that's happening in space: 

• Two teenage schoolgirls in India discovered an asteroid near Mars. It's moving toward Earth. ☄️
• NASA is launching a balloon the size of a football stadium into the stratosphere so researchers can study the formation of stars. 🚀
• Want to see a meteor shower tonight? Look to the southern sky to see the Alpha Capricornids, notable for the number of bright fireballs produced during its activity period. ✨

And now back to our regularly programmed long reads 👇