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Missions to Mars FROM NASA PRESS KIT Posted: March 8, 2006 Building on scientific discoveries and lessons learned from past and ongoing missions, NASA's Mars Exploration Program is working over many years to establish a sustained observational presence both around and on the surface of Mars. This includes orbiters that view the planet from above and act as telecommunications relays; surface-based mobile laboratories; robots that probe below the planet's surface; and, ultimately, missions that return soil and rock samples to Earth and prepare for human landing. With international cooperation, the long-term program is guided by compelling questions that scientists are interested in answering about Mars, developing technologies to make missions possible within available resources. The program's strategy is to seek to uncover profound new insights into Mars' past environment, the roles and abundance of water, and the potential for development of habitats that may support past or present life. As part of the NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, these missions of discovery foresee human exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond in coming decades, and take early measurements necessary for human landing and habitation. The following are the most recently completed, ongoing and near-term future Mars missions of exploration by NASA and its international partners: Mars Pathfinder (December 1996 - March 1998): The first completed mission in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, rapidly developed planetary missions with highly focused scientific goals, Mars Pathfinder far exceeded its expectations and outlived its primary design life. This lander, which released its Sojourner rover at the Martian surface, returned 2.3 billion bits of information, including more than 17,000 images and more than 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil and extensive data on winds and other types of weather. Investigations carried out by instruments on both the lander and the rover suggest that Mars had liquid water on its surface and a thicker atmosphere. The lander and rover functioned far beyond their planned lifetimes (30 days for the lander and seven days for the rover), but eventually, after about three months on the Martian surface, depletion of the lander's battery and a drop in the lander's operating temperature are thought to have ended the mission. Mars Global Surveyor (November 1996 - present): During its primary mapping mission from March 1999 through January 2001, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor collected more information than any other previous Mars mission. Today the orbiter continues to gather data in a second extended mission. As of May 1, 2003, it has completed more than 20,000 orbits of Mars and returned more than 137,000 images, 671 million laseraltimeter shots and 151 million spectrometer measurements. Some of the mission's most significant findings include: evidence of possibly recent liquid water at the Martian surface; evidence for layering of rocks that points to widespread ponds or lakes in the planet's early history; topographic evidence that most of the southern hemisphere is higher in elevation than most of the northern hemisphere, so that any downhill flow of a mineral suggesting a wet environment when it was formed; and extensive evidence for the role of dust in reshaping the recent Martian environment. Global Surveyor provided valuable details for evaluating the risks and attractions of potential landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rover missions, and served as a communications relay for the rovers during and after their landings. Mars Odyssey (April 2001 - present): This NASA orbiter's prime mapping mission began in March 2002. Its suite of gamma-ray spectrometer instruments has provided strong evidence for large quantities of frozen water mixed into the top layer of soil in the 20 percent of the planet near its north and south poles. By one estimate -- likely an underestimate -- the amount of water ice near the surface, if melted, would be enough water to fill Lake Michigan twice. Odyssey's infrared camera system has also provided detailed maps of minerals in rocks and soils. A layer of olivine-rich rock in one canyon near Mars' equator suggests that site has been dry for a long time, since olivine is easily weathered by liquid water. Nighttime infrared imaging by Odyssey's camera system provides information about how quickly or slowly surface features cool off after sunset, which gives an indication of where the surface is rocky and where it is dusty. Odyssey's observations helped evaluate potential landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rovers, and relays via this orbiter have been the rovers' main way of sending information to Earth. About 90 percent of data from the rovers has been relayed via Odyssey, which passes over each rover twice a day. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (June 2003 - present): Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, are mobile robotic field geologists sent to examine geological clues about the environmental history, particularly the history of water, at carefully selected sites. Together, they make up NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project. Spirit is exploring inside Gusev Crater, a bowl 150 kilometers (95 miles) in diameter. Orbital images suggest Gusev may have once held a lake fed by inflow from a large valley network that channels into the crater from highlands to the south. Spirit landed in January 2004 in a level plain pocked with small craters and strewn with loose rocks. The rover found that the rocks on the plain are volcanic with slight alteration by exposure to water. By June 2004, Spirit had driven to a range of hills about 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the landing site in a quest for exposed bedrock. Exploring in the hills since then, Spirit has found an assortment of rocks and soils bearing evidence of extensive exposure to water, including the iron-hydrogen- oxide mineral goethite and sulfate salts. Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (July 2003 - present): This rover was sent to a flat region named Meridiani Planum, where the spectrometer on Mars Global Surveyor had discovered a large exposure of a type of hematite that usually, but not always, forms in the presence of water. In January 2004, Opportunity landed inside a crater only 22 meters (72 feet) in diameter and immediately saw exposed bedrock in the crater's inner slope. During the next few weeks, the rover's examination of that outcrop settled the long-running debate about whether Mars ever had sustained liquid water on its surface. Composition and textures showed that the rocks not only had been saturated months beginning in June 2004, Opportunity examined deeper layers of rock inside a stadium-sized crater about 700 meters (half a mile) from the landing site. The rocks had all soaked in water, but textures in some showed that periods of dry, wind-blown deposition alternated with periods when water covered the surface. After examining its own heat shield and a nickel-iron meteorite near this crater, Opportunity drove more than 3 kilometers (2 miles) southward to reach a different type of terrain in search of rocks with different information to add about the region's wet history. Mars Express (2003 - present): This is a European Space Agency orbiter with NASA participation in two of its seven instruments. The spacecraft has been returning color images and other data since January 2004 after entering orbit in late December 2003. It has confirmed water ice in Mars' south polar cap and added information about how the solar wind has been removing water vapor from Mars' atmosphere for billions of years. Mars Express has found traces of methane in Mars' atmosphere. Scientists propose that this gas would break down rapidly enough to be undetectable if there is not an active source, either biological or non-biological, maintaining the amount. The orbiter has also mapped variations in the concentration of water vapor in the lower portion of the atmosphere. The spacecraft's June 2005 deployment of the antenna for a ground-penetrating radar instrument prepares for a search for layers bearing ice and possibly water beneath the surface of Mars. Phoenix Mars Scout (2007): The first in a planned series of competitively selected NASA Mars Scout missions, Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils while checking for organic chemicals and monitoring polar climate. It is scheduled to launch in August 2007 and land in May 2008. The stationary lander will operate for up to three months. Its robotic arm is designed to dig a trench up to half a meter (20 inches) deep and deliver samples from it to an onboard laboratory to analyze the samples' chemistry and physical properties. The mission will serve as NASA's first exploration of this ice-rich region and renew the search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted by the Viking landers of the 1970s. The Phoenix mission plan, developed by a team led by a University of Arizona scientist, was one of 25 proposals submitted to become the first Mars Scout mission. NASA selected Phoenix from among four finalist proposals in 2003. Major roles for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be to provide additional information for characterizing potential landing sites for Phoenix and, in 2008, to serve as the primary communications relay for Phoenix. Mars Science Laboratory (2009): This NASA mission will use precision landing technologies to put a roving science laboratory at a selected site on Mars with a payload of science instruments more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier Mars rovers. The laboratory is designed to operate for more than a Martian year (687 Earth days) and travel across a much greater range than previous rovers. To help scientists assess whether the landing area ever had or still has environmental conditions favorable to microbial life, the rover will analyze dozens of samples scooped from the soil and cored from rocks, with instruments typically found in Earth-based science laboratories but miniaturized to be carried inside the rover. Instruments have been selected that could identify and inventory the chemical building blocks of life in the samples and identify features that may show effects of biological processes. The mission will mark major advances in measurement capabilities and surface access. It will demonstrate technologies for accurate landing that will be necessary for sending later missions to sites that are scientifically compelling but difficult to reach, and it will prove techniques that will contribute to human landing systems. Additional Mars Scouts (2011 and later): Mars Scouts are competitively proposed missions intended to supplement and complement, at relatively low cost, the core missions of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Phoenix is the first. The next round of proposals and selection targets a launch in 2011. Beyond 2011: For the second decade of this century, NASA is planning additional missions to examine the geological record, environmental conditions and potential for habitability at selected sites on Mars, possibly including extended surface operations and subsurface exploration. The flexible program includes many options driven by the discoveries of missions such as Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Science Laboratory, and technology developments such as life-detection investigations and drilling to reach underground sites. In support of the Vision for Space Exploration, NASA has also begun preparations for sending human explorers to Mars and beyond. An early step in realizing the vision will be development of a crew exploration vehicle in the next few years; a crucial intermediate step will be return of astronauts to the moon by 0 0, this time for a sustained presence there. Meanwhile, the scientific robotic program will take measurements and apply technologies in its planned missions to help pave the way for astronauts, such as including a surface radiation monitor on the Mars Science Laboratory in 009. Some challenges that astronauts will face are environmental factors, such as dust and radiation. Others are technological requirements, such as reliable precision landing and an adequate energy supply. Historical Mars Missions - [Unnamed], USSR, 10/14/60, Mars flyby, did not reach Earth orbit
- [Unnamed], USSR, 10/24/62, Mars flyby, achieved Earth orbit only
- Mars 1, USSR, 11/1/62, Mars flyby, radio failed at 106 million km (65.9 million miles)
- [Unnamed], USSR, 11/4/62, Mars flyby, achieved Earth orbit only
- Mariner 3, U.S., 11/5/64, Mars flyby, shroud failed to jettison
- Mariner 4, U.S. 11/28/64, first successful Mars flyby 7/14/65, returned 21 photos
- Zond 2, USSR, 11/30/64, Mars flyby, passed Mars but radio failed, returned no planetary data
- Mariner 6, U.S., 2/24/69, Mars flyby 7/31/69, returned 75 photos
- Mariner 7, U.S., 3/27/69, Mars flyby 8/5/69, returned 126 photos
- Mariner 8, U.S., 5/8/71, Mars orbiter, failed during launch
- Kosmos 419, USSR, 5/10/71, Mars lander, achieved Earth orbit only
- Mars 2, USSR, 5/19/71, Mars orbiter/lander arrived 11/27/71, no useful data, lander burned up
due to steep entry
- Mars 3, USSR, 5/28/71, Mars orbiter/lander, arrived 12/3/71, lander operated on surface for 20
seconds before failing
- Mariner 9, U.S., 5/30/71, Mars orbiter, in orbit 11/13/71 to 10/27/72, returned 7,329 photos
- Mars 4, USSR, 7/21/73, failed Mars orbiter, flew past Mars 2/10/74
- Mars 5, USSR, 7/25/73, Mars orbiter, arrived 2/12/74, lasted a few days
- Mars 6, USSR, 8/5/73, Mars flyby module and lander, arrived 3/12/74, lander failed due to fast impact
- Mars 7, USSR, 8/9/73, Mars flyby module and lander, arrived 3/9/74, lander missed the planet
- Viking 1, U.S., 8/20/75, Mars orbiter/lander, orbit 6/19/76-1980, lander 7/20/76-1982
- Viking 2, U.S., 9/9/75, Mars orbiter/lander, orbit 8/7/76-1987, lander 9/3/76-1980; combined, the Viking orbiters and landers returned 50,000+ photos
- Phobos 1, USSR, 7/7/88, Mars/Phobos orbiter/lander, lost 8/88 en route to Mars
- Phobos 2, USSR, 7/12/88, Mars/Phobos orbiter/lander, lost 3/89 near Phobos
- Mars Observer, U.S., 9/25/92, lost just before Mars arrival 8/21/93
- Mars Global Surveyor, U.S., 11/7/96, Mars orbiter, arrived 9/12/97, high-detail mapping through
1/00, now conducting third extended mission
- Mars 96, Russia, 11/16/96, orbiter and landers, launch vehicle failed
- Mars Pathfinder, U.S., 12/4/96, Mars lander and rover, landed 7/4/97, last transmission 9/27/97
- Nozomi, Japan, 7/4/98, Mars orbiter, failed to enter orbit 12/03
- Mars Climate Orbiter, U.S., 12/11/98, lost upon arrival 9/23/99
- Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2, U.S., 1/3/99, lander and two probes, lost on arrival 12/3/99
- Mars Odyssey, U.S., 4/7/01, Mars orbiter, arrived 10/24/01, currently conducting
extended science mission and providing relay for Mars Exploration Rovers
- Mars Express/Beagle 2, European Space Agency, 6/10/03, Mars orbiter/lander, orbiter
conducting extended mission, lander lost on arrival 12/25/03
- Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, U.S., 6/10/03, Mars rover, landed 1/4/04 for three-month prime
mission inside Gusev Crater, currently conducting extended mission.
- Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, U.S., 7/7/03, Mars rover, landed 1/25/04 for three-month
prime mission in Meridiani Planum region, currently conducting extended mission
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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifts off aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.
The remarkable rovers Spirit and Opportunity remain alive and well on the surface of the Red Planet, far outlasting their planned 90-day missions. On Jan. 24, the second anniversary of Opportunity's landing, project officials and scientists held this celebration event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The seventh flight of the space shuttle is remembered for breaking the gender barrier for U.S. spaceflight. Sally Ride flew into space and the history books with her historic June 1983 mission, becoming America's first woman astronaut. STS-7 also launched a pair of commercial communications spacecraft, then deployed a small platform fitted with experiments and camera package that captured iconic pictures of Challenger flying above the blue Earth and black void of space. The crew members narrate highlights from the mission in this post-flight film presentation.
The space shuttle program became a two-orbiter fleet on April 4, 1983 when Challenger launched on its maiden voyage from Kennedy Space Center. The STS-6 mission featured the first ever spacewalk from a space shuttle and the deployment of NASA's first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. The four astronauts narrate a movie of highlights from their five-day mission in this post-flight presentation.
Commander Steve Lindsey and his crew, the astronauts set to fly the second post-Columbia test flight, hold an informal news conference with reporters at Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 17. The crew is in Florida to examine hardware and equipment that will be carried on the STS-121 flight of shuttle Discovery.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin and his No. 2, Shana Dale, appear before the House Science Committee on Feb. 16 to defend President Bush's proposed 2007 budget for the space agency. Congressmen grill Griffin and Dale about the budget's plans to cut funding for some science programs.
With the four test flights complete, NASA declared the space shuttle a fully operational program. The crews were expanded, commercial payloads were welcomed aboard and the mission plans became much more hectic. This new era began with Columbia's STS-5 flight that launched the ANIK-C3 and SBS-C commercial communications satellites from the shuttle's payload bay. Commander Vance Brand, pilot Bob Overmyer and mission specialists Joe Allen and Bill Lenoir narrate highlights from their November 1982 mission in this post-flight presentation.
The developmental test flights of the space shuttle concluded with Columbia's STS-4 mission. Commander Ken Mattingly and pilot Henry Hartsfield spent a week in space examining orbiter systems and running science experiments. The 1982 flight ended on the Fourth of July with President Reagan at the landing site to witness Columbia's return and the new orbiter Challenger leaving for Kennedy Space Center. Watch this STS-4 post-flight crew presentation film.