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Mars Exploration History
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Mariner 4 Flies by Mars
This was the first probe ever to fly by Mars and sparked Mars Exploration. Mariner 4 was a probe that navigated using the stars, It used the star Canopus to lock on to Mars, hence the name mariner. It took 22 photos and gave humanity the first detailed look at Mars. It sent the images back to earth at a speed of only 8.5 bits per second. This is slower than the slowest internet connection in the world. These photos showed scientists about Mars' geology and surface and was incredibly successful. -
Mariner 9 Orbits Mars
Mariner 8 & 9 were intended to orbit Mars however Mariner 8 had an issue on launch and exploded. Mariner 9 survived and arrived at Mars and found a dust storm had engulfed the surface. When the storm passed Mariner 9 mapped all of the Martian surface and took hundreds of photos giving NASA and the world insight on Mars. It accomplished it's mission and the end of the mission came in October 1972. -
Viking 1 & 2 land on Mars
Viking 1 & 2 were the first spacecraft ever to land on Mars. It provided another point of view about the red planet. Vikings 1 & 2 were separate but identical spacecraft that were launched from Cape Canaveral. The viking spacecraft had an orbiter and lander both took stunning photos from the Martian surface. The missions were expected to last for 90 days but instead lasted much longer. The last transmission was received on November 11, 1982. -
Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars
Mars pathfinder was a lander that contained a small rover known as Sojourner. Pathfinder found out that the size and shape of round pebbles showed evidence of flowing water. Pathfinder also found that water ice clouds were found in the early morning. Pathfinder was incredibly successful, laying the groundwork for more and more Mars missions. Pathfinder's mission ended in September 1997. -
Mars Global Surveyor Arrives at Mars
The mars global surveyor arrived at Mars to study it's weather patterns. Mars Global Surveyor took stunning images from orbit and mapped the entire planet's weather patterns and allowed scientists to see how Mars' atmosphere works. It was successful in it's mission burning up in the atmosphere November, 14, 2006 -
2001 Mars Odyssey Arrives in Mars
2001 Mars Odyssey is an Orbiter launched in early April 2001 and is still operating today. 2001 Mars Odyssey mapped Mars more completely than Mariner 9. It also mapped chemicals and minerals around Mars, this information could assist humans on gathering minerals from Mars. Mars Odyssey also mapped ice under the surface. -
Sprit and Opportunity land on Mars
Sprit and Opportunity were twin rovers launched in 2003. They landed on Mars and took some of the best resolution colour photos that they had seen. These photos gave the scientists at NASA and JPL a clear image of what Mars is. They also analysed the Martian surface and sent back, high detail chemical data and helped the scientists back on Earth understand the rock that Mars is made up of. -
Curiosity Rover lands on Mars
The curiosity rover is the most ambitious rover ever sent to Mars. It was sent to Mars to look for traces of microscopic life known as microbes. The Curiosity rover has many scientific instruments to analyse the surface, because of all the equipment Curiosity is the size of a car. Curiosity has a 7 foot arm to examine rock and has sent back the chemical structure of many different parts of the Martian terrain.
