Exploration of Mars

The Exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s. These missions were aimed at gathering data about current conditions and answering questions about the history of Mars as well as a preparation for a possible human mission to Mars. The questions raised by the scientific community are expected to not only give a better appreciation of the red planet but also yield further insight into the past, and possible future, of Earth.

Launch windows

In order to understand the history of the robotic exploration of Mars it is important to note that minimum-energy launch windows occur at intervals of approximately 2.135 years, i.e. 780 days (the planet's synodic period with respect to Earth). This is a consequence of the Hohmann transfer orbit for minimum-energy interplanetary transfer. The slight inclination and eccentricity of Mars' orbit relative to Earth's orbit means that the minimum energy launch date differs from that implied by the synodic period slightly. Launch window width is subject to vehicle constraints but are typically on the order of one month wide. The windows for recent/future years were/will be centred on the following dates:

• 18 November 1996 (MJD 50405) (MJD - modified julian day )


• 22 January 1999 (MJD 51200)


• 19 April 2001 (MJD 52018)


• 5 June 2003 (MJD 52795)


• 10 August 2005 (MJD 53592)


• 21 September 2007 (MJD 54364)


• 15 October 2009 (MJD 55119)


• 7 November 2011 (MJD 55872)


• 2 January 2014 (MJD 56659)

Minimum energy inbound (Mars to Earth) launch windows also occur at similar intervals.

In addition to these minimum-energy trajectories, which occur when the planets are aligned so that the Earth to Mars transfer trajectory goes halfway around the Sun, an alternate trajectory which has been proposed goes first inward toward Venus orbit, and then outward, resulting in a longer trajectory which goes about 360 degrees around the Sun.

Timeline of Mars exploration [ includes both manned and unmanned missions]

Launch window Mission (1960-1969) Launch Arrival at Mars Termination Objective Result

1 Marsnik 1 (Mars 1960A) 10 October 1960 10 October 1960 Flyby Launch failure

Marsnik 2 (Mars 1960B) 14 October 1960 14 October 1960 Flyby Launch failure

2 Sputnik 22 (Mars 1962A) 24 October 1962 24 October 1962 Flyby Broke up shortly after launch

Mars 1

1 November 1962 21 March 1963 Flyby Some data collected, but lost contact before reaching Mars

Sputnik 24 (Mars 1962B) 4 November 1962 19 January 1963 Lander Failed to leave Earth's orbit

3 Mariner 3

5 November 1964 5 November 1964 Flyby Failure during launch ruined trajectory. Currently in solar orbit.

Mariner 4

28 November 1964 14 July 1965 21 December 1967 Flyby Success (first successful flyby)

Zond 2

30 November 1964 May 1965 Flyby Lost contact

5 Mariner 6

25 February 1969 31 July 1969 August 1969 Flyby Success

Mariner 7

27 March 1969 5 August 1969 August 1969 Flyby Success

Mars 1969A

27 March 1969 27 March 1969 Orbiter Launch failure

Mars 1969B

2 April 1969 2 April 1969 Orbiter Launch failure



Launch window Mission (1970-1989) Launch Arrival at Mars Termination Objective Result

6 Mariner 8

8 May 1971 8 May 1971 Orbiter Launch failure

Cosmos 419 (Mars 1971C) 10 May 1971 12 May 1971 Orbiter Launch failure

Mariner 9

30 May 1971 13 November 1971 27 October 1972 Orbiter Success (first successful orbit)

Mars 2

19 May 1971 27 November 1971 22 August 1972 Orbiter Success

27 November 1971 Lander / rover Crashed on surface of Mars

Mars 3

28 May 1971 2 December 1971 22 August 1972 Orbiter Success

2 December 1971 Lander / rover Partial Success. First successful landing; landed softly, but ceased transmission within 15 seconds.

7 Mars 4

21 July 1973 10 February 1974 10 February 1974 Orbiter Did not enter orbit, but made a close flyby

Mars 5

25 July 1973 2 February 1974 21 February 1974 Orbiter Partial success. Entered orbit, and returned data, but failed within 9 days

Mars 6

5 August 1973 12 March 1974 12 March 1974 Lander Partial success. Data returned during descent, but not after landing on Mars

Mars 7

9 August 1973 9 March 1974 9 March 1974 Lander Landing probe separated prematurely; entered heliocentric orbit.

8 Viking 1

20 August 1975 20 July 1976 17 August 1980 Orbiter Success

13 November 1982 Lander Success

Viking 2

9 September 1975 3 September 1976 25 July 1978 Orbiter Success

11 April 1980 Lander Success

14 Phobos 1

7 July 1988 2 September 1988 Orbiter Contact lost while on route to Mars

lander Not deployed

Phobos 2

12 July 1988 29 January 1989 27 March 1989 Orbiter Partial success: entered orbit and returned some data. Contact lost just before deployment of landers

Landers Not deployed

Launch window Mission (1990-1999) Launch Arrival at Mars Termination Objective Result

16 Mars Observer

25 September 1992 24 August 1993 21 August 1993 Orbiter Lost contact just before arrival

18 Mars Global Surveyor

7 November 1996 11 September 1997 5 November 2006 Orbiter Success

Mars 96

16 November 1996 17 November 1996 Orbiter / landers Launch failure

Mars Pathfinder

4 December 1996 4 July 1997 27 September 1997 Lander / rover Success

19 Nozomi (Planet-B) 3 July 1998 9 December 2003 Orbiter Complications while on route; Never entered orbit

Mars Climate Orbiter

11 December 1998 23 September 1999 23 September 1999 Orbiter Crashed on surface due to metric-imperial mix-up

Mars Polar Lander

3 January 1999 3 December 1999 3 December 1999 Lander Crash landed on surface due to improper hardware testing

Deep Space 2 (DS2)

Hard landers

Launch window Mission (2000-Present) Launch Arrival at Mars Termination Objective Result

20 2001 Mars Odyssey

7 April 2001 24 October 2001 Currently operational Orbiter Success

21 Mars Express

2 June 2003 25 December 2003 Currently operational Orbiter Success

Beagle 2

6 February 2004 Lander Lost contact in December 2003 after separation from Mars Express. Fate unknown.

MER-A Spirit

10 June 2003 4 January 2004 Currently operational, stuck Rover Success

MER-B Opportunity

7 July 2003 25 January 2004 Currently operational Rover Success

Rosetta

2 March 2004 February 25, 2007 Currently operational Gravity assist enroute to comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko

Success

22 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

12 August 2005 10 March 2006 Currently operational Orbiter Success

23 Phoenix

4 August 2007 25 May 2008 10 November 2008 Lander Success

Dawn

27 September 2007 Feb. 17, 2009 Currently operational Gravity assist to Vesta

(Successful launch; successful to date)

Launch window Future missions Launch schedule Estimated arrival at Mars — Objective Notes

25 Phobos-Grunt

2012[14]

Orbiter, lander, sample return Will attempt to bring samples of Phobos’ soil back to Earth in 2014 (or 2012).

Yinghuo-1

Orbiter Will travel with the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission

MSL Curiosity

15 September 2011 2012 Rover Powered by radioisotopes, it will perform chemical and physical analysis on martian soil and atmosphere.

MetNet

2011-2019 Multi-lander network Simultaneous meteorological measurements at multiple locations.

25 Northern Light

2012 Lander / rover Solar powered, it will perform chemical and physical analysis on Martian soil and atmosphere.

26 MAVEN

2013 Orbiter Part of the Mars Scout Program


Mars mission

Between 2013-2015[19]

Orbiter The ISRO has begun the conceptual phase for an orbiter mission to Mars.

: ARES (martian rocketplane)

Possibly by 2016 aircraft search for life on Mars, water, atmospherics, magnetics

Astrobiology Field Laboratory

Possibly by 2016 Rover Focused on the search for life on Mars, past or present. Being considered but not yet funded or scheduled.

27 and : ExoMars

2016 Orbiter, static lander TGM orbiter will deliver the ExoMars static lander.

28 and : ExoMars

2018 Two rovers ExoMars rover and MAX-C rover.

and : Mars sample return mission

Possibly by 2020 Orbiter, lander, rover, sample return Being considered but not yet funded or scheduled.