Mars Exploration
For over 60 years, NASA has been in pursuit of answering science's biggest questions – was, or is, Mars a habitable world?
Mars Exploration Science Goals
The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four broad, overarching goals for Mars exploration.
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Mars is the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.
From Robots to Humans
Recorded observations of Mars date back more than 4,000 years. Led by our curiosity of the cosmos, NASA has sent a carefully selected international fleet of robotic orbiters, landers and rovers to keep a continuous flow of scientific information and discovery from Mars. The science and technology developed through Mars Exploration missions will enable humans to one day explore the Red Planet in person.
Artist's concept depicts astronauts and human habitats on Mars.
Rover Basics
Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a rover take on human-like features, such as “heads,” “bodies,” and “arms and legs."
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A carefully selected international fleet of robotic orbiters, landers, and rovers keeps a continuous flow of scientific information and discovery from Mars.
Mars Missions
Mars 2020: Perseverance Rover
The Mars 2020 mission Perseverance rover is the first step of a journey that would return Mars samples to Earth. (2020-present)
Mars Sample Return
NASA and ESA are planning ways to bring the first samples of Mars material back to Earth for detailed study. (Launching NET 2027)
EXOMars Program
ESA’s (European Space Agency) Exobiology on Mars program consists of two missions: Trace Gas Orbiter and the Rosalind Franklin rover.
InSight
InSight was the first space robotic explorer to study in-depth the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. (2018-2022)
MAVEN
MAVEN is obtaining critical measurements of Mars' atmosphere to help understand dramatic climate change over the planet's history. (2013-present)
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
MRO studies the planet's atmosphere and terrain from orbit and serves as a key data relay station for other Mars missions. (2005-present)
Curiosity Rover
Curiosity is investigating Mars to determine whether the Red Planet ever was habitable to microbial life. (2011-present)
Mars Phoenix
Phoenix carried a complex suite of instruments to look for signs of water-ice in a region farther north than any previous mission. (2007-2008)
Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity
A pair of Mars rovers that used field geology and atmospheric observations as they looked for signs of ancient water activity. (2003-2010)
Mars Express (ESA)
NASA is contributing advanced radar and radio relay systems to this ESA-ASI mission searching for sub-surface water from Mars orbit. (2003-present)
2001 Mars Odyssey
NASA's longest-lasting spacecraft at Mars is making the first global map of the amount and distribution of chemical elements and minerals that make up the Martian surface. (2001-present)
Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2
Mars Polar Lander's mission was to dig for water ice near the edge of the south polar cap and deploy two small surface probes, but all spacecraft were lost on arrival. (1999)
Mars Climate Orbiter
Designed to function as an interplanetary weather satellite and a communications relay for Mars Polar Lander, Mars Climate Orbiter was lost on arrival after entering the atmosphere too low. (1999-1999)
Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Global Surveyor studied the entire Martian surface, atmosphere, and interior, discovering repeatable weather patterns, gully formation, new boulder tracks, and recent impact craters. (1996-2006)
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder demonstrated a new way to deliver an instrumented lander, and the first robotic rover, to the planet's surface, from which it returned data long past its primary design life. (1996-1997)
Mars Observer
Mars Observer was designed to study the geology, geophysics, and climate of Mars, but contact with the spacecraft was lost shortly before it was set to enter orbit around the planet. (1992-1993)
Vikings 1 & 2
The first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft safely on Mars and return images of the surface, Viking 1 was part of a pair of probes seeking signs of life on Mars. (1975-1982 )
Mars Mariner Missions
NASA's Mariner 9, launched days after Mariner 8, was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet and to orbit Mars, mapping 85% of the surface. (1971-1972)
The Future of Mars
NASA is reimagining the future of Mars exploration, driving new scientific discoveries, and preparing for humans on Mars. NASA’s Mars Exploration Program will focus the next two decades on its science-driven systemic approach on these strategic goals: exploring for potential life, understanding the geology and climate of Mars, and preparation for human exploration.
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