Exploring Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury. Mars is often referred to as the 'Red Planet' which refers to the effect of the iron oxide on its surface. This gives it a reddish appearance visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere and has surface features like the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.

Mars days and seasons are comparable to those of Earth, because the rotational period and tilt of the rotational axis are very similar.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids.

Mariner 4, launched by NASA on November 28, 1964, was the first spacecraft to visit Mars. It detected the weak Martian radiation belt, and captured the first images of another planet from deep space.

There are ongoing investigations assessing the possibility of extant life and future astrobiology missions are planned.

Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure. The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water. The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 meters. In November 2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars.

Reference: Wikipedia - Mars

Spacecraft Missions

A spacecraft mission to explore our Solar System starts with its launch from earth using a rocket launcher. The spacecraft then uses its own engines to reach its objective and carry out its mission. Some missions have multiple objectives.

The duration of a mission varies, depending on the craft used and purpose of the mission.

The table below is an overview or all the successful spacecraft missions, to date, used to study the planet Mars. It only includes spacecraft that left Earth orbit to perform their mission.

Point to ℹ for table information. (Table head remains visible while scrolling)
Select the Spacecraft name or Target for more information.

Img ℹ Reference number for image gallery below.	Spacecraft ℹ Used to perform the mission.	Launcher ℹ Used to carry the spacecraft out of the Earth's atmosphere.	Country ℹ Main country which developed the mission.	Year ℹ Year the spacecraft was launched and when the mission came to an end.		Mission ℹ Main mission objectives or events.	Notes ℹ Additional information.
				Launch	End

1	Mariner 4	Atlas LV-3 Agena-D	U.S.	1965	1965	Conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and transmit observations to Earth.	First spacecraft to reach and provide close-up images of Mars.
2	Mariner 6 & 7	Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D	U.S.	1969	1970	Study the surface and atmosphere of Mars during close flybys.	First dual mission to Mars.
3	Mariner 9	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D	U.S.	1971	1972	Continued the atmospheric studies of Mariner 6 and 7, and maped over 70% of the Martian surface.	First spacecraft to orbit another planet.
4	Mars 2, Mars 3	Proton K/D	U.S.S.R.	1971	1972	Consisted of orbiters and landers to study the solar wind, magnetic fields and martian surface.	First spacecraft to reach the surface of Mars (Mars 2) and soft land on it (Mars 3).
5	Mars 4, Mars 5	Proton K/D	U.S.S.R.	1973	1974	Carried instruments to study Mars from orbit, including cameras, a radio telescope, a magnetometer, and a gamma-ray spectrometer.	Mars 4 failed to orbit, Mars 5 was successful.
6	Mars 6, Mars 7	Proton K/D	U.S.S.R.	1973	1974	Both consisted of a coast stage (flyby) and lander to study Mars including magnetic fields and the martian surface.	Part of the Soviet Mars program.
7	Viking 1, Viking 2	Titan IIIE Centaur	U.S.	1975	1982	Both included an orbiter for photography and mapping and a lander for photography and experiments.	Viking 1 was the first landed to fully complete its mission. Viking 2 last contact in 1980.
8	Phobos 2	Proton K/D	U.S.S.R.	1988	1989	Designed to explore the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, from orbit and with landers.	Orbital operations successful but landers not deployed.
9	Mars Pathfinder	Delta II 7925	U.S.	1996	1997	Lander and rover with scientific objectives and "proof-of-concept" for various technologies.	Second project from NASA's Discovery Program, which promotes low-cost spacecraft and frequent launches.
10	Mars Global Surveyor	Delta II 7925	U.S.	1996	2006	Global mapping mission that examined all of Mars, from the ionosphere to the surface.	Completed primary mission in 2001 and was in its third extended mission phase in 2006 when it failed.
11	2001 Mars Odyssey	Delta II 7925	U.S.	2001	-	Studying climate and geology from orbit; communications relay for Spirit and Opportunity rovers.	Longest surviving spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth.
12	Mars Express	Soyuz-FG Fregat	Europe	2003	-	Consisted of Orbiter and a lander designed to perform exobiology and geochemistry research.	First planetary mission by the European Space Agency (ESA). Lander failed to fully deploy.
13	Mars Exploration Rovers	Delta II 7925	U.S.	2003	2018	Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on opposite sides of Mars. Provided extensive geological analysis of Martian rocks and planetary surface features.	Spirit functioned until it got stuck and ceased communications in 2010. Opportunity was able to stay operational until 2018.
14	Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter	Atlas V 401	U.S.	2005	-	Multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. Used to analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and ice of Mars.	MRO's telecommunications system will transfer more data back to Earth than all previous missions combined. It has enough propellant to keep functioning into the 2030s.
15	Phoenix	Delta II 7925	U.S.	2007	2008	Lander used instruments to assess the local habitability and to research the history of water there.	Part of the Mars Scout Program in partnership of universities in the United States, Canada and Europe.
16	Mars Science Laboratory	Atlas V 541	U.S.	2011	-	MSL Lander and rover to determine the landing site's habitability, the role of water, the study of climate and the geology of Mars.	Part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort for the robotic exploration of Mars.
17	Mars Orbiter Mission	PSLV-XL	India	2013	-	A project to develop the technologies for designing, planning, management, and operations of an interplanetary mission.	India's first interplanetary mission and the fourth space agency to reach Mars.
18	MAVEN	Atlas V 401	U.S.	2013	-	Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) is an orbital spacecraft developed by NASA to study Mars' atmosphere.	Part of the Mars Scout Program.
19	Trace Gas Orbiter	Proton-M Briz-M	Europe / Russia	2013	-	ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO or ExoMars Orbiter) is an atmospheric research orbiter and the Schiaparelli demonstration lander.	A collaborative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russian Roscosmos.
20	InSight	Atlas V 401	U.S.	2018	-	Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander designed to study the deep interior of Mars.	Carried two Mars Cube One (MarCO) Cubesats to test their navigation and endurance in deep space.
21	Hope	H IIA	U.A.E.	2020	-	Study daily and seasonal weather cycles and weather events in the lower atmosphere such as dust storms.	Cubic in shape and structure, carries three scientific instruments including a high resolution digital camera.
22	Tianwen-1	Long March 5 (Y4)	China	2020	-	Find evidence of life, produce surface maps, characterize soil composition and water ice distribution, examine the atmosphere.	Consists of an orbiter, deployable camera, lander and a rover.
23	Mars 2020	Atlas V 541	U.S.	2020	-	Investigate environment, surface geological processes, the possibility of past life, the potential for biosignatures within geological materials.	Includes the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter drone.

Spacecraft and Launcher Gallery

This gallery contains images of spacecraft and their launch vehicles (rockets) used on the above missions. (Numbers relate to the table above)

Thumbnails: Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge it. | Enlarged image: Click on right side of image for next image or on left side for previous image. Click outside image to close.