Mars Information Page
Mission Data
Observational data produced from a Mission or Investigation
Primary
Mariner 6 and 7
2/25/1969—12/28/1970
The mission was designed to have two spacecraft encounter Mars within a 5 day period, with TV images sent to Earth. Mariner 6 was targeted for a nearly equatorial flyby, with Mariner 7 taking a southerly route to enhance viewing of the south polar cap.
Mariner 9
5/30/1971—10/27/1972
On November 14, 1971, Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. Six experiments were carried as part of the science payload: television, ultraviolet spectrometer, infrared spectroscopy, infrared radiometry, S-band occultation and celestial mechanics. Two experiments (S-band occultation and celestial mechanics) utilized the radio telemetry subsystem to derive data; the other required specially developed instruments, mounted, and boresighted to each other, on the spacecraft's scan platform. Pre-launch mission planning encompassed two separate, but complementary, missions. The orbit of each spacecraft was optimized to match the corresponding objective. The mapping mission was designed with an Earth-synchronous orbit (about... ...Show More
Viking 1 and 2
8/20/1975—5/21/1983
The Viking mission to Mars consisted of four spacecraft: the two orbiters VO1 and VO2, and two landers VL1 and VL2. During cruise to Mars, the landers were attached to the orbiters; the combined spacecraft were then known as Viking 1 and 2. The role of the orbiters was to transport the landers to Mars, to carry reconnaissance instruments for certifying the landing sites, to act as relay stations for lander data, and to perform their own scientific investigations. The initial orbit periapses were placed over the candidate landing sites to allow for maximum viewing resolution and relay of the lander data. After the primary lander missions were completed, the orbiters' orbits were allowed to drift so that the entire planetary surface could be ... ...Show More
Phobos 2
12/7/1988—3/27/1989
The Phobos 2 was launched on July 12, 1988. It was designed to study the satellites of Mars. It had two landers with it. The spacecraft was able to take images of Phobos and measurements of the Marian atmosphere before its signal was lost.
Mars Observer
9/25/1992—8/21/1993
Mars Observer was launched September 25, 1992 from Cape Canaveral on a Titan III built by Martin Marietta Corporation, with an upper Transfer Orbit Stage from Orbital Sciences Corporation. On August 21, 1993, flight controllers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft when an expected transmission that was part of the pre-Mars-Orbit-Insertion sequence failed to occur. Subsequent attempts to re-establish communication with the spacecraft proved unsuccessful. After the 11-month transit the spacecraft was to be injected into an elliptical orbit around Mars with periapsis near the north pole. The orbit would then be adjusted through a series of maneuvers to a near-circular, sun-synchronous (2 am/pm), low altitude, near-polar orbit. Due to... ...Show More
Mars Global Surveyor
11/7/1996—11/2/2006
The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, which operated on Mars for more than nine years, was designed to study the composition of Mars, map its topography and monitor weather patterns. The orbiter made a number of discoveries about the Red Planet, including evidence of liquid water at or near the Martian surface. Observations from the Mars Global Surveyor, especially its identifications of water-related minerals, were used to determine drive routes for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2010.
Mars Pathfinder / Sojourner
12/3/1996—9/27/1997
The Mars Pathfinder mission, designed to demonstrate a low-cost method for delivering a set of science instruments to the Red Planet, was the first wheeled vehicle to be used on any other planet in the solar system and served as the foundation for the Mars rovers of today. The mission landed a rover -- Sojourner -- on the surface of Mars using an air bag landing system and innovative petal design, which have been used since in various incarnations to land other rovers on the Red Planet. Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, snapping photographs and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements
2001 Mars Odyssey
4/7/2001
Mars Odyssey was designed to investigate the Martian environment, providing key information on its surface and the radiation hazards future explorers might face. The goal was to map the chemical and mineralogical makeup of Mars as a step to detecting evidence of past or present water and volcanic activity on Mars. The spacecraft also was designed to act as a relay for future landers and did so for the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), the Mars Science Laboratory, and the Phoenix lander.Still in orbit around Mars, 2001 Mars Odyssey holds the record for the longest continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth.
Mars Express
6/2/2003
Mars Express was launched on June 2, 2003. The mission had an orbiter and a lander. The lander wasn't able to fully deploy once it landed. The orbiter studies the atmosphere of Mars and maps the surface.
Mars Exploration Rover (Spirit & Opportunity)
1/24/2004—3/22/2010
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission consisted of two spacecraft, MER-2 hardware which included the Spirit rover, and MER-1 hardware, which included the Opportunity rover. Spirit was launched June 10, 2003, on a Delta II 7925 launch vehicle. Opportunity followed 3 weeks later, launching July 7, 2003 on a Delta II 7925 Heavy vehicle.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
8/12/2005
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 12 August 2005. After a five-month cruise and a two-month approach to Mars, MRO entered Mars' orbit on 10 March 2006. The 255 x 320 km Primary Science Orbit (PSO) was a near-polar orbit with periapsis frozen over the South Pole. The Primary Science Phase of the mission began after solar conjunction and after turn-on and checkout of the science instruments in the Primary Science Orbit. The science investigations were functionally divided into daily global mapping and profiling, regional survey, and globally distributed targeting investigations. It is mission is now to be the communication and navigation system for landers and rover probes.
Phoenix
8/4/2007—11/2/2008
The Phoenix Mission was the first Scout class mission. It consisted of a single lander with associated instrumentation. Phoenix was launched on August 4, 2007 and landed on the northern plains of Mars (68.22 degrees N, 234.25 degrees East Areocentric) on May 25, 2008. The Lander operated until November 2, 2008, performing on the Martian surface for 152 sols (sols are Martian days, 1 sol equaling 24.66 hours). The Surface Phase constituted the primary and extended missions, and focused on testing the hypothesis that water ice exists beneath a thin soil cover, evaluating evidence for habitability zones, and monitoring weather during the northern summer. Hence, inferring the presence of water and its interaction with the Martian soil was of cr... ...Show More
Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)
11/26/2011
Development of the Mars Science Laboratory project began in 2003. On November 26 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory mission launched a spacecraft on a trajectory to Mars, and on August 6, 2012 (UTC), it landed a mobile science vehicle named Curiosity at a landing site in Gale Crater. During the trip to Mars, instrument health checks were performed and the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument collected science data. For the primary mission on the surface of Mars (ending September 28, 2014), the rover explored the landing site and gathered imaging, spectroscopy, composition data, and other measurements for selected Martian soils, rocks, and the atmosphere. These data will allow the science team to quantitatively assess the habitab... ...Show More
Secondary
Dawn
The Dawn mission launched in Sept. 2007 to rendezvous and orbit the asteroids 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres. Vesta orbit operations took place from July 2011 to Sept. 2012, and Ceres orbit operations from March 2015 to Oct. 2018. The scientific objectives of the mission were to characterize the asteroids' internal structure, density, shape, size, composition and mass and to return data on surface morphology, cratering, and magnetism.