Three Generations of Mars Rovers
Mars exploration efforts are finally producing volumes of data about the planet. While early exploration years had many failures and produced little of scientific value, the more recent missions have been returning a great amount of high-value data.
Mars exploration missions can be divided into three types – flybys, orbiters, and landers. Also, there are two types of landers – stationary and mobile.
Click here to view NASA plans for Mars Exploration
Since 1960 there have been a total of 40 Mars exploration missions by the United States, Russia, Europe, and Japan, which covers 52 years.
- 15 Successes
- 2 Partial Successes
- 23 Failures
Five of the successful missions have occurred in the past 10 years
Current Exploration
Currently, there are four missions that are exploring Mars. Another mission is en-route to Mars, and will arrive on August 5, 2012. Three of the missions are orbiting Mars and gathering data. One missions has two mobile rovers that move about from one scientific-valued site to another. One rover has ceased functioning while the other is still gathering valuable scientific data. The mission now cruising to Mars will take about 9 months (254 days).
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Future Exploration Direction – “Follow the Water!”
Since our first close-up picture of Mars in 1965, spacecraft voyages to the Red Planet have revealed a world strangely familiar, yet different enough to challenge our perceptions of what makes a planet work. Every time we feel close to understanding Mars, new discoveries send us straight back to the drawing board to revise existing theories.
You’d think Mars would be easier to understand. Like Earth, Mars has polar ice caps and clouds in its atmosphere, seasonal weather patterns, volcanoes, canyons, and other recognizable features. However, conditions on Mars vary wildly from what we know on our own planet.
To discover the possibilities for life on Mars–past, present or our own in the future–the Mars Program has developed an exploration strategy known as “Follow the Water.”
Following the water begins with an understanding of the current environment on Mars. We want to explore observed features like dry riverbeds, ice in the polar caps and rock types that only form when water is present. We want to look for hot springs, hydrothermal vents or subsurface water reserves.
All of these features have scientists excited about what else will be discovered on the Red Planet!