National Aeronautics and Space Administration
History
Chronology of Mars Exploration
A Chronology of Mars Exploration
Mars 1960A - USSR Mars Probe - (October 10, 1960)
- Failed to reach Earth orbit.
Mars 1960B - USSR Mars Probe - (October 14, 1960)
- Failed to reach Earth orbit.
Mars 1962A - USSR Mars Flyby - (October 24, 1962)
- Spacecraft failed to leave Earth orbit after the final rocketstage exploded.
Mars 1 - USSR Mars Flyby - 893 kg - (November 1, 1962)
- Communications failed en route.
Mars 1962B - USSR Mars lander - (November 4, 1962)
- Failed to leave Earth orbit.
Mariner 3 - USA Mars Flyby - 260 kg - (November 5, 1964)
- Mars flyby attempt. Solar panels did not open, preventing flyby. Mariner
3 is now in a solar orbit.
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for more information about the Mariner missions.
Mariner 4 - USA Mars Flyby - 260 kg - (November 28, 1964- December 20,
1967)
- Mariner 4 arrived at Mars on July 14, 1965 and passed within
6,118 miles of the planet's surface after an eight month journey. This
mission provided the first close-up images of the red planet. It returned
22 close-up photos showing a cratered surface. The thin atmosphere was confirmed
to be composed of carbon dioxide in the range of 5-10 mbar. A small intrinsic
magnetic field was detected. Mariner 4 is now in a solar orbit.
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for more information about the Mariner missions.
Zond 2 - USSR Mars Flyby - (November 30, 1964)
- Contact was lost en route.
Mariner 6 - USA Mars Flyby - 412 kg - (February 24, 1969)
- Mariner 6 arrived at Mars on February 24, 1969, and passed within 3,437
kilometers of the planet's equatorial region. Mariner 6 and 7 took measurements
of the surface and atmospheric temperature, surface molecular composition,
and pressure of the atmosphere. In addition, over 200 pictures were taken.
Mariner 6 is now in a solar orbit.
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for more information about the Mariner missions.
Mariner 7 - USA Mars Flyby - 412 kg - (March 27, 1969)
- Mariner 7 arrived at Mars on August 5, 1969, and passed within 3,551 kilometers
of the planet's south pole region. Mariner 6 and 7 took measurements of the
surface and atmospheric temperature, surface molecular composition, and pressure
of the atmosphere. In addition, over 200 pictures were taken. Mariner 7 is
now in a solar orbit.
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for more information about the Mariner missions.
Mars 1969A USSR
Mars 1969B USSR
Mariner 8 - USA Mars Flyby - (May 8, 1971)
- Failed to reach Earth orbit.
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for more information about the Mariner missions.
Kosmos 419 - USSR Mars Probe - (May 10, 1971)
- Failed to leave Earth orbit.
Mars 2 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander - 4,650 kg - (May 19, 1971)
- The Mars 2 lander was released from the orbiter on November 27, 1971. It
crashed-landed because its braking rockets failed- no data was returned and
the first human artifact was created on Mars. The orbiter returned data until
1972.
Mars 3 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander - 4,643 kg - (May 28, 1971)
- Mars 3 arrived at Mars on December 2, 1971. The lander was released and
became the first successful landing on Mars. It failed after relaying 20 seconds
of video data to the orbiter. The Mars 3 orbiter returned data until August,
1972. It made measurementsof surface temperature and atmospheric composition.
Mariner 9 - USA Mars Orbiter - 974 kg - (May 30, 1971 -1972)
- Mariner 9 arrived at Mars on November 3, 1971 and was placed into orbit
on November 24. This was the first US spacecraft to enter an orbit around
a planet other than Earth. At the time of its arrival a huge dust storm was
in progress on the planet. Many of the scientific experiments were delayed
until the storm had subsided. The first hi-resolution images of the moons
Phobos and Deimos were taken. River and channel like features were discovered.
Mariner 9 is still in Martian orbit.
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for more information about the Mariner missions.
Mars 4 - USSR Mars Orbiter - 4,650 kg - (July 21, 1973)
- Mars 4 arrived at Mars on February, 1974, but failed to go into orbit due
to a malfunction of its breaking engine. It flew past the planet within 2,200
kilometers of the surface. It returned some images and data.
Mars 5 - USSR Mars Orbiter - 4,650 kg - (July 25, 1973)
- Mars 5 entered into orbit around Mars on February 12, 1974. It acquired
imaging data for the Mars 6 and 7 missions.
Mars 6 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander - 4,650 kg - (August 5, 1973)
- On March 12, 1974, Mars 6 entered into orbit and launched its lander. The
lander returned atmospheric descent data, but failed on its way down.
Mars 7 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander - 4,650 kg - (August 9, 1973)
- On March 6, 1974, Mars 7 failed to go into orbit about Mars and the lander
missed the planet. Carrier and lander are now in a solar orbit.
Viking 1 - USA Mars Orbiter/Lander - 3,399 kg - (August 20, 1975 - August
7, 1980)
Viking 2 - USA Mars Orbiter/Lander - 3,399 kg - (September 9, 1975 -
July 25, 1978)
- Viking 1 and 2 were designed after the Mariner spacecraft. They consisted
of an orbiter and lander. The orbiter weighed 900kg and the lander 600 kg.
Viking 1 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, on August 20, 1975, the
trip to Mars and went into orbit about the planet on June 19, 1976. The lander
touched down on July 20, 1976 on the western slopes of Chryse Planitia (Golden
Plains). Viking 2 was launched for Mars on November 9, 1975, and landed on
September 3, 1976. Both landers had experiments to search for Martian micro-organisms.
The results of these experiments are still being debated. The landers provided
detailed color panoramic views of the Martian terrain. They also monitored
the Martian weather. The orbiters mapped the planet's surface, acquiring over
52,000 images. The Viking project's primary mission ended on November 15,
1976, eleven days before Mars' superior conjunction (its passage behind the
Sun), although the Viking spacecraft continued to operate for six years after
first reaching Mars. The Viking 1 orbiter was deactivated on August 7, 1980,
when it ran out of altitude-control propellant. Viking 1 lander was accidentally
shut down on November 13, 1982, and communication was never regained. Its
last transmission reached Earth on November 11, 1982. Controllers at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory tried unsuccessfully for another six and onehalf
months to regain contact with the lander, but finally closed down the overall
mission on 21 May 1983.
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for more information on the Viking missions.
Phobos 1 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander - 5,000 kg - (July 7, 1988)
- Phobos 1 was sent to investigate the Martian moon Phobos. It was lost en
route to Mars through a command error on September 2, 1988.
Phobos 2 - USSR Phobos Flyby/Lander - 5,000 kg - (July 12, 1988)
- Phobos 2 arrived at Mars and was inserted into orbit on January 30, 1989.
The orbiter moved within 800 kilometers of Phobos and then failed. The lander
never made it to Phobos.
Mars Observer - USA Mars Orbiter (September 25, 1992)
- Communication was lost with Mars Observer on August 21, 1993, just before
it was to be inserted into orbit. Click here
for more information.
Mars Global Surveyor - USA Mars Orbiter (November 7, 1996)
- Initiated due to the loss of the Mars Observer spacecraft, the Mars Global
Surveyor (MGS) mission launched on November 7, 1996. MGS has been in a Martian
orbit, successfully mapping the surface since March 1998. Click here to check
out the MGS page at JPL.
Mars 96 - Russia Orbiter & Lander - (November 16, 1996)
- Mars '96 consisted of an orbiter, two landers, and two soil penetrators
that were to reach the planet in September 1997. The rocket carring Mars 96
lifted off successfully, but as it entered orbit the rocket's fourth stage
ignited prematurely and sent the probe into a wild tumble. It crashed into
the ocean somewhere between the Chilean coast and Easter Island. The spacecraft
sank, carrying with it 270 grams of plutonium-238.
Mars Pathfinder - USA Lander & Surface Rover - (December 1996)
- The Mars Pathfinder delivered a stationary lander and a surface rover to
the Red Planet on July 4, 1997. The six-wheel rover, named Sojourner, explored
the area near the lander. The mission's primary objective was to demonstrate
the feasibility of low-cost landings on the martian surface. This was the
second mission in NASA's low-cost Discovery series. After great scientific
success and public interest, the mission formally ended on November 4, 1997,
when NASA ended daily communications with the Pathfinder lander and Sojourner
rover. Click here to go to the official Mars
Pathfinder page at JPL.
Nozomi - Japan Mars Orbiter (July 3, 1998) (Planet B)
- Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) launched this
probe on July 4, 1998 to study the Martian environment. This would have been
the first Japanese spacecraft to reach another planet. The probe was due to
arrive at Mars in December of 2003. After revising the flight plan due to
earlier problems with the probe, the mission was abandoned on December 9,
2003 when ISAS was unable to communicate with the probe in order to prepare
it for orbital insertion.
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for more information on the Nozomi mission.
Mars Climate Orbiter - USA Orbiter - (December 11, 1998) (Mars Surveyor
'98 Orbiter)
Mars Polar Lander - USA Lander - (January 3, 1999) (Mars Surveyor '98
Lander)
- The Polar Lander was scheduled to land on Mars on December 3, 1999. Ground
crews were unable to contact the spacecraft, and it was declared a loss. NASA
concluded that spurious signals during the lander leg deployment caused the
spacecraft to think it had landed, resulting in premature shutdown of the
spacecraft's engines and destruction of the lander on impact. Click here
for more information about this mission.
2001 Mars Odyssey - USA Mars Orbiter and Lander/Rover- (April 7, 2001)
(Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter)
- This Mars orbiter reached the planet on October 24, 2001. This satellite
will conduct mineral research and serve as a communications relay for future
Mars missions. It is expected to serve in this capacity for the next five
years. Click here for more
information.
Mars Express - European Space Agency Mars Orbiter and Lander - (June
2003)
- The Mars Express Orbiter and the Beagle 2 lander were launched together
on June 2, 2003. The Beagle 2 was released from the Mars Express Orbiter on
December 19, 2003. The Mars Express arrived successfully on December 25, 2003.
The Beagle 2 was also scheduled to land on December 25, 2003; however, ground
controllers have been unable to communicate with the probe. Click here
for more information.
Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission - USA Mars Rovers - (June/ July
2003)
- These Mars rovers were launched in 2003. "Spirit", also known
as MER-A, was launched on June 10, 2003 and successfully arrived on Mars on
January 3, 2004. "Opportunity", also known as MER-B, was launched
on July 7, 2003 and successfully arrived on Mars on January 24, 2004. Click
here for more information.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (August 2005)
- The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was launched on August 12, 2005 for a seven month voyage to Mars. MRO will reach Mars in March 2006 and begin its scientific mission in November 2006. Click here for more information.
Future Mars Missions - USA - (2005 and beyond)
- Click here for more information about future Mars missions.
Click here for the Mars
Program Independent Assessment Team Report and other associated reports. Click
here for additional useful chronologies and other informationon exploration of
Mars from the
National
Space Science Data Center or the Mars
Exploration Program Office. We also have an annotated
bibliography available.
Updated August 25, 2005
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
For further information E-mail histinfo@hq.nasa.gov