|
Mars |
Launch |
Arrival |
Type |
Name |
Details |
|
circa 1650 |
|
|
Earth based |
Giovanni Cassini |
Measured rotation of Mars’s accurately to within 3 minutes. |
|
1659 |
|
|
Earth based |
Christian Huygens |
First diagram of Sirtis Major |
|
1877 |
|
|
Earth based |
Giovanni Sciaperelli |
Canals on Mars |
|
1996 |
|
|
Earth based |
Hubbell Space Telescope |
Dust storms seen due to differential in temperature between poles and plains. |
|
1984 |
|
|
Earth based |
JPL |
Shows that features on Mar's northern plain resemble palaeolake shorelines in Nevada and Utah suggesting water was once present on the surface. |
|
1962 |
1 November |
|
failure |
Mars1 |
first probe to Mars flew by but no data collected |
|
1964 |
28 November |
14 July 65 |
Flyby |
Mariner 4 |
Revealed arid cratered surface |
|
1969 |
24 February |
31 July |
Flyby |
Mariner 6 |
Photographed equatorial region. |
|
1969 |
27 March |
4 August |
Flyby |
Mariner 7 |
Examined southern Hemisphere |
|
1971 |
13 November |
|
Orbiter |
Mariner 9 |
First detailed image of moon's Phobos and Deimos |
|
1971 |
30 May |
13 November |
Orbiter |
Mariner 9 |
Maps Martian surface between November 1971 and October 1972 |
|
1988 |
12 July |
|
Orbiter |
Phobos 2 |
Contact lost 27 March 1989 some data returned |
|
1996 |
7 November |
|
Orbiter |
Mars Global Surveyor |
Extensive aero braking deceleration time delays project start |
|
1999 |
|
October |
Orbiter |
Mars Climate Orbiter |
Failed; aerobraking phase too close to surface |
|
1971 |
1 November |
|
hard landing |
Mars 1 |
Contact Lost at 106,000 Km. |
|
1971 |
19 May |
27 November |
hard landing |
Mars 2 |
No Image received from lander. |
|
1996 |
October |
|
Penetrative landing |
Mars 96 |
Failed |
|
1999 |
3 January 1999 |
3 December 1999 |
Penetrative Landing |
Deep Space 2 |
Contact lost after landing phase |
|
1975 |
20 August |
19 June 1976 |
soft landing |
Viking 1 |
Viking 1 searches for life on Mars and analyses surface soil and weather systems. It continues to function until November 1982 |
|
1975 |
09 September |
7 August 1976 |
soft landing |
Viking 2 |
Viking 2 has a similar mission to Viking 1 and ceases to function in April 1980. Detects Mars quakes |
|
1997 |
4
December 1996 |
July 4 1997 |
soft landing |
Mars Pathfinder |
Sojourner a rover released on surface. |
|
1999 |
3 January 1999 |
3 December 1999 |
soft lander | Mars Polar Lander | Contact lost after landing phase |
|
1984 |
|
|
sample returned |
Antarctic meteor |
Sample ALH 8400 1 16 million year old Martian rock showing carbonaceous probably organic material. |