Mars Exploration: Rovers, Landers, Orbiters and Flybys

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The attempt to explore the Red Planet started a long ago since 1960. It is definitely hard to sent a small thing from Earth to far about 225 million km to Mars. But after many upssets we manage to reach the Red Planet. Let's take a look on the list of missions to the Red Planet.


1) Marsnik  1

 - Launched on October 10, 1960
- USSR Mars probe
- Failed to reach Earth's orbit

2) Marsnik 2

 - Launched on October 14, 1960
- USSR Mars probe
- Failed to reach Earth's orbit

3) Sputnik 22

 - Launched on October 24, 1962
- USSR Mars Flyby
- Failed to reach Earth's orbit

4) Mars 1

 - Launched on November 1, 1962
- USSR Mars Flyby
- Communication failed on the way

5) Sputnik 24

 - Launched on November 5,  1962
- USSR Mars Lander
- Failed to leave Earth's orbit

6) Mariner 3

 - Launched on November 5, 1964
- USA Mars Flyby
- Solar panels failed to open preventing flyby

7) Mariner 4

- Launched on November 28, 1964
- USA Mars Flyby
- Mariner 4 reached to Mars on July 14, 1965 and successfully attempted the first ever mars flyby. Also it captured 22 close-up images of mars. 

8) Zond 2

 - Launched on November 30, 1964
- USSR Mars Flyby
- Communication lost on the way

9) Mariner 6

- Launched on February 24, 1969
- USA Mars Flyby
- Arrived at Mars on July 31, 1969.

10) Mariner 7

- Launched on March 27, 1969
- USA Mars Flyby
- Arrived at Mars on August 5, 1969.

11) Mars 1969A USSR

 - Launch failure

12) Mars 1969B USSR

 - Launch failure

13) Mariner 8

 - Launched on May 8, 1971
- USA Mars Flyby
- Failed to reach Earth's orbit

14) Kosmos 419

 - Launched on May 10, 1971
- USSR Mars Probe
- Failed to leave Earth's orbit

15) Mars 2

 - Launched on May 19, 1971
- USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Arrived at Mars and released on November 27, 1972 and crash landed on the surface.

16) Mars 3

 - Launched on May 28, 1971
- USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Arrived at Mars and released on December 2, 1971 and became first successful lander on Mars.

17) Mariner 9

 - Launched on May 30, 1971
- USA Mars Orbiter
- Placed into orbit on November 3, 1971 and became first successful Mars orbiter of  USA.

18) Mars 4

 - Launched on July 21, 1973
- USSR Mars Orbiter
- Arrived at Mars on February 1974 but failed to make in to the orbit of Mars.

19) Mars 5

 - Launched on July 25, 1973
- USSR Mars Orbiter
- Entered the orbit of Mars on February 12, 1974

20) Mars 6

 - Launched on August 5, 1973
- USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Entered orbit on March 12, 1974 but lander failed to land on the surface.

21) Mars 7

 - Launched on August 9, 1973
- USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Failed to enter in to orbit and lander missed the planet.

22) Viking 1

 - Launched on August 20, 1975
- USA Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Entered in to orbit on June 19, 1976 and landed on the surface on July 20, 1976.

23) Viking 2

 - Launched on September 9, 1975
- USA Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Landed on the surface on September 3, 1976.

24) Phobos 1

 - Launched on July 7, 1988
- USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Communication was lost on the way.

25) Phobos 2

- Launched on July 12, 1988
- USSR Mars Orbiter /Lander
- Failed to land on the surface.

30) Mars Observer

- Launched on September 25, 1992
- USA Mars Orbiter
- Communication was lost its the way.

31) Mars Global Surveyor

 - Launched on November 7, 1996
- USA Mars Orbiter
- Entered in the orbit on March 1998

32) Mars 96

 - Launched on November 16, 1996
- Russia Mars Orbiter/Lander
- Failed to reach Earth's orbit.

33) Mars Pathfinder

 - Launched on December 4, 1996
- USA Mars Lander/Rover
- Landed on the surface on July 4, 1997 and rover ride area around the lander.

34) Nozomi

 - Launched on July 3, 1998
- Japan Mars Orbiter
- Did not reach to Mars orbit due to electrical failure.

35) Mars Climate Orbiter

 - Launched on December 11, 1998
- USA Orbiter
- Communication was lost on the way.

36) Mars Polar Lander

 - Launched on January 3, 1999
- USA Lander
- Failed communication during landing and crashed on the surface.

37) 2001 Mars Odyssey

 - Launched on April 7, 2001
- USA Mars Orbiter
- Entered into the orbit on October 24, 2001.

38) Mars Express

 - Launched on June 2, 2003
- ESA Mars Orbiter and Beagle 2 Lander
- Mars express arrived on December 25, 2003 and the Beagle 2 was separated on December 19, 2003 and planned to land on December 25, 2003 but failed to fully deploy.

40) Spirit

 - Launched on June 10, 2003
- USA Mars Rover
- Successfully landed on the Red planet on January 3, 2004.

41) Opportunity

 - Launched on July 7, 2003
- USA Mars Rover
- Successfully landed on Mars on January 24, 2004 and still in work today.

42) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

 - Launched on August 12, 2005
- USA Mars Orbiter
- Arrived at Mars on March 10, 2006.

43) Phoenix

 - Launched on August 4, 2007
- USA Mars Lander
- Landed successfully on May 25, 2008.

44) Phobos-Grunt

- Launched on November 8, 2011
- Russia Mars Lander/ Yinghuo-1 China Mars Orbital Probe
- Failed to Earth's orbit properly.

45) Curiosity

 - Launched on November 26, 2011
- USA Mars Rover
- Landed successfully on August 6, 2012.

46) Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan)

 - Launched on November 5, 2013
- India Mars Orbiter
- Successfully deployed in Mars orbit on September 24, 2014.


47) MAVEN

 - Launched on November 18, 2013
- USA Mars Orbiter
- Entered the orbit on September 21, 2014.

48) InSight

 - Launched on 5 May, 2018
- USA Mars Lander
- It is expected to land on 26 November, 2018. To know more about InSight click here.






Related Link: A Chronology of Mars Exploration


























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