.
List of missions to Mars
Mars and its moons have been a target for many spacecraft, with flyby, orbiter, lander and rover missions visiting the planet.[1][2] In addition, two spacecraft, Rosetta and Dawn, have made flybys to get gravity assists for other missions; the former having visited comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and the latter en route to asteroid 4 Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. Three missions were dedicated to Phobos, but they did not achieve their goals.
Missions
Spacecraft | Launch date[1] | Operator | Mission[1] | Outcome[1] | Remarks | Carrier rocket[2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1M No.1 | 10 October 1960 | OKB-1 Soviet Union |
Flyby | Launch failure | Failed to orbit | Molniya |
1M No.2 | 14 October 1960 | OKB-1 Soviet Union |
Flyby | Launch failure | Failed to orbit | Molniya |
2MV-4 No.1 | 24 October 1962 | Soviet Union | Flyby | Launch failure | Disintegrated in LEO | Molniya |
Mars 1 (2MV-4 No.2) |
1 November 1962 | Soviet Union | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Communications lost before flyby | Molniya |
2MV-3 No.1 | 4 November 1962 | Soviet Union | Lander | Launch failure | Never left LEO | Molniya |
Mariner 3 | 5 November 1964 | NASA United States |
Flyby | Launch failure | Payload fairing failed to separate | Atlas LV-3 Agena-D |
Mariner 4 | 28 November 1964 | NASA United States |
Flyby | Successful | Closest approach at 01:00:57 UTC on 15 July 1965 | Atlas LV-3 Agena-D |
Zond 2 (3MV-4A No.2) |
30 November 1964 | Soviet Union | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Communications lost before flyby | Molniya |
Mariner 6 | 25 February 1969 | NASA United States |
Flyby | Successful | Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D | |
2M No.521 | 27 March 1969 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Launch failure | Failed to orbit | Proton-K/D |
Mariner 7 | 27 March 1969 | NASA United States |
Flyby | Successful | Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D | |
2M No.522 | 2 April 1969 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Launch failure | Failed to orbit | Proton-K/D |
Mariner 8 | 9 May 1971 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Launch failure | Failed to orbit | Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D |
Kosmos 419 (3MS No.170) |
10 May 1971 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Launch failure | Never left LEO; upper stage burn timer set incorrectly | Proton-K/D |
Mariner 9 | 30 May 1971 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Successful[3] | Entered orbit on 14 November 1971, deactivated 516 days after entering orbit | Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D |
Mars 2 (4M No.171) |
19 May 1971 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Mostly successful | Entered orbit 27 November 1971, operated for 362 orbits. Mapping operations unsuccessful due to dust storms on the surface[4] | Proton-K/D |
Mars 2 lander (SA 4M No.171) |
19 May 1971 | Soviet Union | Lander | Spacecraft failure | Deployed from Mars 2, failed to land during attempt on 27 November 1971 | Proton-K/D |
Mars 3 (4M No.172) |
28 May 1971 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Mostly successful | Entered orbit 2 December 1971, operated for 20 orbits.[5] Mapping operations unsuccessful due to dust storms on the surface[6] | Proton-K/D |
Mars 3 lander (SA 4M No.172) |
28 May 1971 | Soviet Union | Lander | Partial failure | Deployed from Mars 3; landed at 13:52 UTC on 2 December 1971 but contact lost 14.5 seconds later | Proton-K/D |
Prop-M Rover rover (SA 4M No.172) |
28 May 1971 | Soviet Union | Rover | Spacecraft failure | Failed to deploy | Proton-K/D |
Mars 4 (3MS No.52S) |
21 July 1973 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Spacecraft failure | Failed to perform orbital insertion burn | Proton-K/D |
Mars 5 (3MS No.53S) |
25 July 1973 | Soviet Union | Orbiter | Spacecraft failure | Failed after nine days in Mars orbit | Proton-K/D |
Mars 6 (3MP No.50P) |
5 August 1973 | Soviet Union | Lander Flyby |
Spacecraft failure | Contact lost upon landing, atmospheric data mostly unreadable. Flyby bus collected data.[7] | Proton-K/D |
Mars 7 (3MP No.51P) |
9 August 1973 | Soviet Union | Lander Flyby |
Spacecraft failure | Separated from coast stage prematurely, failed to enter Martian atmosphere | Proton-K/D |
Viking 1 orbiter | 20 August 1975 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Successful | Operated for 1385 orbits | Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T |
Viking 1 lander | 20 August 1975 | NASA United States |
Lander | Successful | Deployed from Viking 1 orbiter, operated for 2245 sols | Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T |
Viking 2 orbiter | 9 September 1975 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Successful | Operated for 700 orbits | Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T |
Viking 2 lander | 9 September 1975 | NASA United States |
Lander | Successful | Deployed from Viking 2 orbiter, operated for 1281 sols | Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T |
Fobos 1 (1F No.101) |
7 July 1988 | Soviet Union | Orbiter Phobos lander |
Spacecraft failure | Communications lost before reaching Mars; failed to enter orbit | Proton-K/D-2 |
Fobos 2 (1F No.102) |
7 July 1988 | Soviet Union | Orbiter Phobos lander |
Partial failure | Orbital observations successful, communications lost before landing | Proton-K/D-2 |
Mars Observer | 25 September 1992 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Spacecraft failure | Lost communications before orbital insertion | Commercial Titan III |
Mars Global Surveyor | 7 November 1996 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Successful | Operated for seven years | Delta II 7925 |
Mars 96 (M1 No.520) |
16 November 1996 | Rosaviakosmos Russia |
Orbiter Penetrators |
Launch failure | Never left LEO | Proton-K/D-2 |
Mars Pathfinder | 4 December 1996 | NASA United States |
Lander | Successful | Landed at 19.13°N 33.22°W on 4 July 1997[8] | Delta II 7925 |
Sojourner | 4 December 1996 | NASA United States |
Rover | Successful | Operated for 84 days[9] | Delta II 7925 |
Nozomi (PLANET-B) |
3 July 1998 | ISAS Japan |
Orbiter | Spacecraft failure | Ran out of fuel before reaching Mars | M-V |
Mars Climate Orbiter | 11 December 1998 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Spacecraft failure | Approached Mars too closely during orbit insertion attempt due to unit conversion error and burned up in the atmosphere | Delta II 7425 |
Mars Polar Lander | 3 January 1999 | NASA United States |
Lander | Spacecraft failure | Failed to land | Delta II 7425 |
Deep Space 2 | 3 January 1999 | NASA United States |
Penetrators | Spacecraft failure | Deployed from MPL, no data returned | Delta II 7425 |
Mars Odyssey | 7 April 2001 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Operational | Delta II 7925 | |
Mars Express | 2 June 2003 | ESA Europe |
Orbiter | Operational | Soyuz-FG/Fregat | |
Beagle 2 | 2 June 2003 | ESA Europe |
Lander | Lander failure | Deployed from Mars Express. Successful landing, but two solar panels failed to deploy, obstructing its communications. | Soyuz-FG/Fregat |
Spirit (MER-A) |
10 June 2003 | NASA United States |
Rover | Successful | operated for 2208 sols | Delta II 7925 |
Opportunity (MER-B) |
8 July 2003 | NASA United States |
Rover | Operational | Delta II 7925H | |
Rosetta | 2 March 2004 | ESA Europe |
Gravity assist | Successful | Flyby in February 2007 en route to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko[10] | Ariane 5G+ |
MRO | 12 August 2005 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Operational | Atlas V 401 | |
Phoenix | 4 August 2007 | NASA United States |
Lander | Successful | Delta II 7925 | |
Dawn | 27 September 2007 | NASA United States |
Gravity assist | Successful | Flyby in February 2009 en route to 4 Vesta and Ceres | Delta II 7925H |
Fobos-Grunt | 8 November 2011 | Roskosmos Russia |
Orbiter Phobos sample |
Spacecraft failure | Never left LEO (intended to depart under own power) | Zenit-2M |
Yinghuo-1 | 8 November 2011 | CNSA PR China |
Orbiter | Failure Lost with Fobos-Grunt |
To have been deployed by Fobos-Grunt | Zenit-2M |
Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) |
26 November 2011 | NASA United States |
Rover | Operational | Atlas V 541 | |
Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) |
5 November 2013 | ISRO India |
Orbiter | Operational | Entered Mars orbit on 24 September 2014. Mission extended by six months.[11][12] | PSLV-XL |
MAVEN | 18 November 2013 | NASA United States |
Orbiter | Operational | Orbit insertion on September 22, 2014[13] | Atlas V 401 |
Locations of selected Mars landers and rovers
Future missions
In development
Mission | Launch | Notes | Countries |
---|---|---|---|
ExoMars | 2016 | Orbiter, lander | Norway Russia Switzerland European Union |
InSight | 2016 | Lander | United States |
ExoMars | 2018 | Rover | Norway Russia Switzerland European Union |
Mangalyaan 2[14] | 2018 | Lander, rover | India |
Mars Hope | 2020[15] | Orbiter[15] | United Arab Emirates United States |
Mars 2020 | 2020 | Rover | United States |
Proposals
Mission | Launch | Notes | Countries |
---|---|---|---|
Unmanned Mars One lander | 2020 | Lander, prep for possible settlement by 2027[16] |
Canada Netherlands United States |
Mars to Stay | Settlement | United States | |
NASA 2022 orbiter | 2022 | Orbiter[17] | United States |
Missions to the moons of Mars
Phobos' stickney crater
Missions dedicated to explore the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Many missions to Mars have also included dedicated observations of the Moons, what this is about is missions focused just on them. There have been three unsuccessful dedicated missions and many proposals. Because of the proximity of the Mars moons to Mars, any mission to them may also be considered a Mission to Mars from some perspectives.
There have been at least three proposals in the United States Discovery Program, including PADME, PANDORA, and MERLIN.[18] The ESA has also considered a sample return mission, one of the latest known as Martian Moon Sample Return or MMSR, and it may use heritage from an asteroid sample return mission.[19]
Deimos (lower left) and Phobos (lower right) compared with the asteroid 951 Gaspra
Poster art for the PADME concept
Phobos by Mars Global Surveyor in 1998[20]
Proposal | Target | Reference |
---|---|---|
Alladin | Phobos and Deimos | [21] |
DSR | Deimos | [22] |
Gulliver | Deimos | [23] |
Hall | Phobos and Deimos | [24] |
M-PADS | Phobos and Deimos | [25] |
Merlin | Phobos and Deimos | [26] |
MMSR (2011 ver.) | Phobos or Deimos | [27] |
OSRIS-REx 2 | Phobos or Deimos | [28] |
Pandora | Phobos and Deimos | [18] |
PCROSS | Phobos | [29] |
Phobos Surveyor | Phobos | [30] |
PRIME | Phobos | [31] |
Fobos-Grunt 2 | Phobos | [32] |
Phootprint | Phobos or Deimos | [33][34] |
PADME | Phobos and Deimos | [35][36] |
Three missions to land on Phobos have been launched; the Phobos program in the late 1980s saw the launch of Fobos 1 and Fobos 2, while the Fobos-Grunt sample return mission was launched in 2011. None of these missions were successful: Fobos 1 failed en route to Mars, Fobos 2 failed shortly before landing, and Fobos-Grunt never left low Earth orbit. However, missions sent to the Martian system have returned data on Phobos and Deimos and missions specifically dedicated to the moons is just a subset of missions Mars that often include dedicated goals to acquire data about these moons. An example of this is the imaging campaigns by Mars Express of the Mars moons.
Mission | Target | Reference |
---|---|---|
Phobos 1 | Phobos | |
Phobos 2 | Phobos | |
Fobos-Grunt | Phobos |
The 'Red Rocks Project', a part of Lockheed Martin's "Stepping stones to Mars" program, proposed to explore Mars robotically from Deimos.[37][38]
See also
Portal icon Mars portal
Portal icon Spaceflight portal
Artificial objects on Mars
Exploration of Mars
Manned mission to Mars
Mars Exploration Rover
Mars flyby
Mars landing
Mars rover
References
Chronology of Mars Exploration. NASA. Retrieved on 2011-12-01.
Russian Space Web - Mars Missions
Pyle, Rod (2012). Destination Mars. Prometheus Books. pp. 73–78. ISBN 978-1-61614-589-7. "It was the first spacecraft to enter orbit around another world."
"Missions to Mars". The Planetary Society.
Perminov, V.G. (July 1999). The Difficult Road to Mars - A Brief History of Mars Exploration in the Soviet Union (PDF). NASA Headquarters History Division. pp. 34–60. ISBN 0-16-058859-6.
Webster, Guy (April 11, 2013). "NASA Mars Orbiter Images May Show 1971 Soviet Lander". NASA. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
NSSDC - Mars 6
"Mars Pathfinder Science Results". NASA.
Mars Pathfinder - Welcome to Mars - Sol 86
"ESA - Beautiful new images from Rosetta’s approach to Mars: OSIRIS UPDATE". Esa.int. 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
"The first image sent from Mars Orbiter.". ISRO.
"Mangalyaan Completes 6 Months in Martian Orbit, Could Last Much Longer". NDTV. 24 March 2015.
Brown, Dwayne; Neal-Jones, Nancy; Zubritsky, Elizabeth (September 21, 2014). "NASA's Newest Mars Mission Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Red Planet". NASA. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
"India plans second Mars mission in 2018". CNN IBN. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
Clark, Stephen (8 May 2015). "UAE details ambitious plan for Martian weather satellite". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
http://www.space.com/28877-mars-one-colony-launch-delay.html?cmpid=559181
Stephen, Clark (March 3, 2015). "NASA eyes ion engines for Mars orbiter launching in 2022". Space Flight Now. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
MERLIN: The Creative Choices Behind a Proposal to Explore the Martian Moons (Merlin and PADME info also)
MMSR - a study for a Martian Moon Sample Return mission
[1]
C. Pieters, et al. - Aladdin: Phobos-Deimos Sample Return
Small Body Sample Return to Deimos
Dr. Britt - The Gulliver Mission: Sample Return from Deimos
P. Lee, et al. - Hall: A Phobos and Deimos Sample Return Mission
Mars Phobos and Deimos Survey (M-PADS)–A Martian Moons Orbiter and Phobos Lander (Ball, Andrew J.; Price, Michael E.; Walker, Roger J.; Dando, Glyn C.; Wells, Nigel S. and Zarnecki, John C. (2009). Mars Phobos and Deimos Survey (M-PADS)–A Martian Moons Orbiter and Phobos Lander. Advances in Space Research, 43(1), pp. 120–127.)
MERLIN: MARS-MOON EXPLORATION, RECONNAISSANCE AND LANDED INVESTIGATION
MMSR - a study for a Martian Moon Sample Return mission
Elifritz, T. L. - OSIRIS-REx II to Mars
Colaprete, A, et al. - PCROSS — Phobos Close Rendevous(sic) Observation Sensing Satellite
Phobos Surveyor - Space Safety Magazine
PRIME
SSM - Phobos-Grunt 2 Bound for Launch in 2020, Russians Confirmed While Celebrating Sputnik
Rolf de Groot – Mars Exploration: The ESA Perspective (2012). (PDF)
Pascal Lee - Phobos & Deimos Update - 7th SBAG
Lee, Pascal; Bicay, Michael; Colapre, Anthony; Elphic, Richard (March 17–21, 2014). Phobos And Deimos & Mars Environment (PADME): A LADEE-Derived Mission to Explore Mars's Moons and the Martian Orbital Environment. (PDF). 45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2014).
Reyes, Tim (1 October 2014). "Making the Case for a Mission to the Martian Moon Phobos". Universe Today. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
Larry Page Deep Space Exploration - Stepping Stones builds up to "Red Rocks : Explore Mars from Deimos"
One Possible Small Step Toward Mars Landing: A Martian Moon
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