Mars

Position of Mars

Jan 1, 1576

Tycho Brahe set up an observatory in Hven and studied the stars for 20 years and was able to calculate the position of Mars

Astronomia Nova

Jan 1, 1609

Johannes Kepler publishes Astronomia Nova, which contain his first two laws of planetary motion.

First Astronomical Telescope

Feb 1, 1609

Galileo Galilei observes Mars with a primitive telescope, becoming the first person to use it to observe the stars.

Mars 24 hour period

Jan 1, 1659

Christiaan Huygens draws Mars using an advanced telescope. He records a large, dark spot on Mars and notices that the spot returns to the same position at the same time the next day. He calculates that Mars has a 24 hour period.

Martian Day

Jan 1, 1666

Giovanni Cassini observes Mars and determines that the length of one Mars day is 24h, 40m.

Possible Ice Caps

Apr 26, 1719

Miraldi wonders if the "white spots" are ice caps.

Dust Clouds

Apr 26, 1809

Honore Flaugergues notices "yellow clouds" on the surface of Mars, which were later found to be dust clouds.

Martian Map

Jan 1, 1867

Richard Anthony Proctor publishes a map of Mars with continents and oceans.

Mars Moons

Apr 29, 1877

Asaph Hall discovers the moons of Mars. He names them Phobos and Deimos, after the horses of the Greek war god, Ares.

Mariner 4

Jan 1, 1964

U.S. flyby spacecraft Mariner 4 returned 21 images.

Viking 1

Jan 1, 1975

United States orbiter and lander Viking 1 located the landing site for Lander and is first successful landing on Mars.

Mars Global Surveyor

Jan 1, 1996

United States lander Mars Global Surveyor took more images than all Mars Missions.

Mars Pathfinder

Jun 1, 1996

Pathfinder US Success Technology experiment lasting 5 times longer than warranty

Mars Odyssey

May 4, 2001

The Unites States Odyssey successfully returned high resolution images of Mars.

Mars Science Laboratory

Jan 1, 2011

United States Mars Science Laboratory (aka Curiosity) is successfully exploring Mars' habitability