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 en route to 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 0Launch failure Failed to orbit Molniya
1M No.2 14 October 1960 OKB-1
Soviet Union		 Flyby 0Launch failure Failed to orbit Molniya
2MV-4 No.1 24 October 1962 Soviet Union Flyby 0Launch failure Disintegrated in LEO Molniya
Mars 1
(2MV-4 No.2)		 1 November 1962 Soviet Union Flyby 1Spacecraft failure Communications lost before flyby Molniya
2MV-3 No.1 4 November 1962 Soviet Union Lander 0Launch failure Never left LEO Molniya
Mariner 3 5 November 1964 NASA
United States		 Flyby 0Launch failure Payload fairing failed to separate Atlas LV-3 Agena-D
Mariner 4 28 November 1964 NASA
United States		 Flyby 4Successful 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 1Spacecraft failure Communications lost before flyby Molniya
Mariner 6 25 February 1969 NASA
United States		 Flyby 4Successful Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
2M No.521 27 March 19691 Soviet Union Orbiter 0Launch failure Failed to orbit Proton-K/D
Mariner 7 27 March 19692 NASA
United States		 Flyby 4Successful Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
2M No.522 2 April 1969 Soviet Union Orbiter 0Launch failure Failed to orbit Proton-K/D
Mariner 8 9 May 19712 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 0Launch failure Failed to orbit Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
Kosmos 419
(3MS No.170)		 10 May 1971 Soviet Union Orbiter 0Launch failure Never left LEO; upper stage burn timer set incorrectly Proton-K/D
Mariner 9 30 May 1971 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 4Successful[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 3Mostly successful Entered orbit 27 November 1971, operated for 362 orbits. Mapping operations unsuccessful due to dust storms on the surface Proton-K/D
Mars 2 lander
(SA 4M No.171)		 19 May 1971 Soviet Union Lander 1Spacecraft 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 3Mostly successful Entered orbit 2 December 1971, operated for 20 orbits. Mapping operations unsuccessful due to dust storms on the surface Proton-K/D
Mars 3 lander
(SA 4M No.172)		 28 May 1971 Soviet Union Lander 1Spacecraft failure Deployed from Mars 3; landed at 13:52 UTC on 2 December 1971 but contact lost 14.5 seconds later Proton-K/D
Mars 4
(3MS No.52S)		 21 July 1973 Soviet Union Orbiter 1Spacecraft failure Failed to perform orbital insertion burn Proton-K/D
Mars 5
(3MS No.53S)		 25 July 1973 Soviet Union Orbiter 1Spacecraft failure Failed after nine days in orbit Proton-K/D
Mars 6
(3MP No.50P)		 5 August 1973 Soviet Union Lander
Flyby		 1Spacecraft failure Contact lost upon landing, atmospheric data mostly unreadable. Flyby bus collected data.[4] Proton-K/D
Mars 7
(3MP No.51P)		 9 August 1973 Soviet Union Lander
Flyby		 1Spacecraft failure Separated from coast stage prematurely, failed to enter Martian atmosphere Proton-K/D
Viking 1 orbiter 20 August 1975 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 4Successful Operated for 1385 orbits Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T
Viking 1 lander 20 August 1975 NASA
United States		 Lander 4Successful Deployed from Viking 1 orbiter, operated for 2245 sols Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T
Viking 2 orbiter 9 September 1975 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 4Successful Operated for 700 orbits Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T
Viking 2 lander 9 September 1975 NASA
United States		 Lander 4Successful 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		 1Spacecraft 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		 2Partial failure Orbital observations successful, communications lost before landing Proton-K/D-2
Mars Observer 25 September 1992 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 1Spacecraft failure Lost communications before orbital insertion Commercial Titan III
Mars Global Surveyor 7 November 1996 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 4Successful Operated for seven years Delta II 7925
Mars 96
(M1 No.520)		 16 November 1996 Rosaviakosmos
Russia		 Orbiter
Penetrators		 0Launch failure Never left LEO Proton-K/D-2
Mars Pathfinder 4 December 1996 NASA
United States		 Lander/Rover 4Successful Operated for 84 days Delta II 7925
Nozomi
(PLANET-B)		 3 July 1998 ISAS
Japan		 Orbiter 1Spacecraft failure Ran out of fuel before reaching Mars M-V
Mars Climate Orbiter 11 December 1998 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 1Spacecraft 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 1Spacecraft failure Failed to land Delta II 7425
Deep Space 2 3 January 1999 NASA
United States		 Penetrators 1Spacecraft failure Deployed from MPL, no data returned Delta II 7425
Mars Odyssey 7 April 2001 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 5Operational Delta II 7925
Mars Express 2 June 2003 ESA
Europe		 Orbiter 5Operational Soyuz-FG/Fregat
Beagle 2 2 June 2003 ESA
Europe		 Lander 1Lander 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		 Lander/RoverRover 4Successful operated for 2208 sols Delta II 7925
Opportunity
(MER-B)		 8 July 2003 NASA
United States		 Lander/RoverRover 5Operational Delta II 7925H
Rosetta 2 March 2004 ESA
Europe		 Gravity assist N/A Flyby in February 2007 en route to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko[5] Ariane 5G+
MRO 12 August 2005 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 5Operational Atlas V 401
Phoenix 4 August 2007 NASA
United States		 Lander 4Successful Delta II 7925
Dawn 27 September 2007 NASA
United States		 Gravity assist N/A Flyby in February 2009 en route to 4 Vesta and Ceres Delta II 7925H
Fobos-Grunt 8 November 2011 Roskosmos
Russia		 Orbiter
Phobos sample		 1Spacecraft failure Never left LEO (intended to depart under own power) Zenit-2M
Yinghuo-1 8 November 2011 CNSA
PR China		 Orbiter 1Failure
Lost with Fobos-Grunt		 To have been deployed by Fobos-Grunt Zenit-2M
Curiosity
(Mars Science Laboratory)		 26 November 2011 NASA
United States		 Lander/RoverRover 5Operational Atlas V 541
Mars Orbiter Mission
(Mangalyaan)		 5 November 2013 ISRO
India		 Orbiter 5Successful. Operational[6][7] Entered Mars orbit on 24 September 2014. Mission extended by six months. PSLV-XL
MAVEN 18 November 2013 NASA
United States		 Orbiter 5Operational On September 22, 2014, MAVEN reached Mars [8] Atlas V 401

Map of landings

The following imagemap of the planet Mars has embedded links to geographical features in addition to the noted Rover and Lander locations. Click on the features and you will be taken to the corresponding article pages. North is at the top; Elevations: red (higher), yellow (zero), blue (lower).

Future missions

In development

Mission Launch Notes
ExoMars 2016 and 2018 Orbiter, lander, rover
InSight 2016 Lander

Proposals

Mission Launch Notes
Mangalyaan-2[9] 2018 Lander, Rover
Mars One 2020 Lander, prep for possible
settlement by 2027[10]
Mars to Stay Settlement
Mars 2020 rover 2020 Rover
Mars 2022 orbiter 2022 Orbiter[11]

Missions to the moons of Mars

Several missions have been proposed to explore the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos.

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[12]
Proposal Target Reference
Alladin Phobos and Deimos [13]
DSR Deimos [14]
Gulliver Deimos [15]
Hall Phobos and Deimos [16]
M-PADS Phobos and Deimos [17]
Merlin Deimos [18]
OSRIS-REx 2 Phobos or Deimos [19]
PCROSS Phobos [20]
Phobos Surveyor Phobos [21]
PRIME Phobos [22]
Fobos-Grunt 2 Phobos [23]
Phootprint Phobos or Deimos [24][25]
PADME Phobos and Deimos [26][27]

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 aquire 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

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chronology of Mars Exploration. NASA. Retrieved on 2011-12-01.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Russian Space Web - Mars Missions
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ NSSDC - Mars 6
  5. ↑ "ESA - Beautiful new images from Rosetta’s approach to Mars: OSIRIS UPDATE". Esa.int. 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  6. ↑ "The first image sent from Mars Orbiter.". ISRO.
  7. ↑ "Mangalyaan Completes 6 Months in Martian Orbit, Could Last Much Longer". NDTV. 24 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "MAVEN".
  9. ↑ "India plans second Mars mission in 2018". CNN IBN. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
  10. ↑ http://www.space.com/28877-mars-one-colony-launch-delay.html?cmpid=559181
  11. ↑ Stephen, Clark (March 3, 2015). "NASA eyes ion engines for Mars orbiter launching in 2022". Space Flight Now. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ C. Pieters, et al. - Aladdin: Phobos-Deimos Sample Return
  14. ↑ Small Body Sample Return to Deimos
  15. ↑ Dr. Britt - The Gulliver Mission: Sample Return from Deimos
  16. ↑ P. Lee, et al. - Hall: A Phobos and Deimos Sample Return Mission
  17. ↑ 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.)
  18. ↑ MERLIN: MARS-MOON EXPLORATION, RECONNAISSANCE AND LANDED INVESTIGATION
  19. ↑ Elifritz, T. L. - OSIRIS-REx II to Mars
  20. ↑ Colaprete, A, et al. - PCROSS — Phobos Close Rendevous(sic) Observation Sensing Satellite
  21. ↑ Phobos Surveyor - Space Safety Magazine
  22. ↑ PRIME
  23. ↑ SSM - Phobos-Grunt 2 Bound for Launch in 2020, Russians Confirmed While Celebrating Sputnik
  24. ↑ Rolf de Groot – Mars Exploration: The ESA Perspective (2012). (PDF)
  25. ↑ Pascal Lee - Phobos & Deimos Update - 7th SBAG
  26. ↑ 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).
  27. ↑ Reyes, Tim (1 October 2014). "Making the Case for a Mission to the Martian Moon Phobos". Universe Today. Retrieved 2014-10-05.