Mars exploration timeline

By Floating_Stardust

  • Launched: Oct. 1960

    Launched: Oct. 1960
    The Soviet Union’s space program had a long series of ambitious but failed Mars missions, beginning with these two attempted flybys. Both craft suffered third-stage rocket failures and failed to reach Earth orbit.

  • Sputnik 22, Mars 1, Sputnik 24

    Sputnik 22, Mars 1, Sputnik 24
    In late 1962 the U.S.S.R. launched two more flyby missions, Sputnik 22 and Mars 1 (pictured), and one lander, Sputnik 24, all of which failed to complete their missions. Mars 1 was not a total failure, however; the probe traveled some 106 million kilometers from Earth before mission controllers lost contact, exploring a large swath of interplanetary space.

  • Mariner 3 & 4

    Mariner 3 & 4
    NASA’s Mariner 3, which was intended to fly past Mars, failed to reach its destination when a protective shield did not detach after launch. Its sister craft, Mariner 4, was launched just weeks later but fared much better. Mariner 4 beamed back 21 images of the Red Planet, showing no system of Martian canals, as had been hypothesized by some astronomers, most notably Percival Lowell, nor any other signs of life.

  • Mariner 8 & 9

    Mariner 8 & 9
    These twin NASA spacecraft met very different fates. Mariner 8 encountered a launch malfunction and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. But Mariner 9 succeeded in reaching Mars, becoming the first probe to orbit another world. A months-long dust storm, which obscured the entire planet, was raging when the probe arrived. After it eventually subsided, Mariner 9 mapped the bulk of the Martian surface.

  • Mars Global Surveyor

    Mars Global Surveyor
    After the loss of Mars Observer, NASA finally ended its long absence at Mars with the successful Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission. MGS carried out many of the geologic and atmospheric investigations intended for Mars Observer.

  • Mars Exploration Rovers

    Mars Exploration Rovers
    The Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on Mars in January 2004 to carry out 90-day missions investigating the geology of the Red Planet. Both lasted much longer than that. Opportunity is still exploring Mars; Spirit became stuck in soft soil in 2009 and fell silent in 2010.

  • Mars Science Laboratory

    Mars Science Laboratory
    This automobile-size rover, also known as Curiosity, will dwarf its predecessors Spirit, Opportunity and Sojourner when it arrives on Mars in August 2012. Assuming, that is, that it touches down safely. The rover has an elaborate landing mechanism involving a parachute, rocket thrusters and a “sky crane” that will lower the rover to the surface. Curiosity carries a variety of cameras and scientific instruments; one of its prime goals is to determine whether Mars was ever hospitable to microbial