[HST views of Mars]
Sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images of Mars, showing Syrtis Major, taken 1994-1995. Note the seasonal changes and varying distance effects.

  • More HST images of Mars
  • Mars at its Closest, Aug 27 2003 HST images
  • Chandra CXO X-ray image of Mars

    Mars Apparition 2024/2025

    Perseverance Mars 2020 Rover - softlanded on Mars February 18, 2021. Deployed Ingenuity helicopter on Aptil 3, first helicopter flight April 19, 2021. - Perseverance rover operating on Mars surface - Ingenuity helicopter operated in surface-near atmosphere until January 25, 2024, performed 72 flights; its mission concluded April 16 after last communication.
    InSight, Nasa's 2018 Mars lander - softlanded on Mars November 26, 2018, doing research on surface. - Mission concluded December 21, 2022, last communication was on December 15.
    Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN), Mars orbiter - arrived at Mars September 21, 2014, operating in Mars orbit
    Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Curiosity - softlanded August 6, 2012 (UT) - operating on Mars surface
    Phoenix Mars Lander - softlanded May 25, 2008 (UT) - concluded mission on Mars November, 2008
    2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - arrived March 10, 2006 - operating in Mars orbit
    2003 Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit on Mars, softlanded January 4, 2004 (UT), operated over 6 years, mission concluded on June 8, 2011 (last contact March 22, 2010) - Opportunity on Mars, softlanded January 25, 2004 (UT), operating on Mars surface (over 14 years now), silent since dust storm of June, 2018 (last contact June 10), mission concluded February 13, 2019.
    Mars Express - arrived December 25, 2003 - operating in Mars orbit
    2001 Mars Odyssey - operating in Mars Mapping Orbit - images - latest - arrived October 24, 2001 - operating in Mars orbit (about 23 years now)

    Observing Alerts and New Mars Images (ALPO collection)

    Planet Mars, Mars Exploration and Mars Missions

    >>Mars Missions
    >>Current and Future Mars Missions

    This page is also available in a more structured format

    Mars Missions

    >>Current and Future Mars Missions

    Current and Future Missions:

     Also look at the Launch Sequence of all historic Mars missions (and scheduled launch dates for future missions)
    Also note the older Mars Mission schedule which was redefined after the failures of Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander.

    Launched 2001:


    Launched 2003: Launched 2005: Launched 2011: Launched 2013: Launched 2016: Launched 2018: Launched 2020: Launched 2023: Launched 2024: To be launched 2025: To be launched 2026: To be launched 2028: 2028/29: Other proposed missions for the mid-to-late 2020s: To be launched 2031:

    Note: Some missions are still in the early planning stage.

    Formerly Proposed missions

    Formerly proposed for launch in 2007: Formerly proposed for launch in 2009: Formerly scheduled for 2013/14 and later: Formerly scheduled to be launched 2018:

    For the time after 2020, a continuation of the research missions was and is planned. Detailed plans are still to be worked out, and should utilize the newly acquired knowledge of the current and scheduled Mars missions.

    Crewed Missions to Mars

    Since the 1950s and earlier, numerous investigations, plans and proposals have been outlined and published for a crewed mission or crewed missions to Mars. The relevant science and technology is basically longly known and steadily improving. Current preliminary estimates, given by current US government and elsewhere, place the timeframe to around the 2030s (see Nasa's Journey to Mars webpage, around 2016..). The opinion of the present author is that, persistent political willingness given, such a mission could be achieved within about 10 years after commencing the effort.

    Formerly, Nasa officials had expressed their intention that these efforts should eventually be leading to a Mars mission with a human crew to be launched in 2018 (and to arrive at Mars in 2019), and to begin an era of permanent human presence on our neighbor planet. Moreover, this date is continuously under discussion with the aim to do the mission sooner (The earliest (now outdated) proposition was a crewed mission as early as 2007, while CNN has reported plans for a crewed mission in 2012 !)

    A vision presented by the President of the United States in January, 2004 had proposed a crewed Mars mission following the establishment of a permanantly crewed Moon base which should be built between 2015 and 2020, after completing the assembly of the International Space Station and the development of a new space transportation system in about 2010. In the scenario of this plan, a crewed Mars mission could have occured in or after the year 2019.

  • A Crewed Mission to Mars ... Scenario (NSSDC), after NASA Special Publication #6107

    Comments, corrections, and propositions to this page are welcome ! Contact me !

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    Hartmut Frommert
    [contact]

    [Spider] @ [SEDS]

    Last Modification: December 3, 2024