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Space Topics: Mars
Missions to Mars
Mars has historically been unfriendly to Earth’s attempts to visit
it. More missions have been attempted to Mars than to any other place
in the Solar System except the Moon, and about half of the attempts have failed. Some
of these failures occurred because Mars was the first planet Earth attempted
to explore, and the early exploration attempts taught us many lessons that
have made subsequent missions more successful. But many failures have
occurred relatively recently, proving again and again that space exploration
is very, very difficult. We must be willing to face the great risks
of space exploration if we are to expect great rewards.
Korabl 4 - Korabl 5 - Korabl
11 - Mars 1 - Korabl 13 - Mariner
3 - Mariner 4 - Zond 2 - Mariner
6 - Mariner 7 - Mars 1969A - Mars
1969B - Mariner 8 - Kosmos
419 - Mars 2 - Mars 3 - Mariner
9 - Mars 4 - Mars 5 - Mars
6 - Mars 7 - Viking 1 - Viking
2 - Phobos 1 - Phobos 2 - Mars
Observer - Mars Global Surveyor - Mars
96 - Mars Pathfinder - Nozomi - Mars
Climate Orbiter - Mars Polar Lander - 2001
Mars Odyssey - Mars
Express - Beagle 2 - Spirit
(Mars Exploration Rover A) - Opportunity (Mars
Exploration Rover B) - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter -
Mars Science Laboratory - Phoenix - Phobos-Soil
("Phobos-Grunt") - Yinghuo-1 - ExoMars
A note on the scores: with the high failure rate of Mars missions, it is
interesting to keep track of how each mission’s success or failure fit
into the context of past missions’ outcomes. Earth gets a point
for each successful mission, Mars one for each failure. If a mission
accomplishes some goals at Mars but not all its intended goals, it’s
a tie! Each
launch is counted as a single mission.
Venera 1
Korabl 4 and 5 (Marsnik 1 and 2) were nearly identical to this design.
| Korabl 4 (Marsnik 1)
Failed Mars flyby attempt (USSR)
Launch: October 10, 1960
Korabl 5 (Marsnik 2)
Failed Mars flyby attempt (USSR)
Launch: October 14, 1960
Korabl 4 and 5 were the Soviet Union's first attempts at interplanetary
probes. The third stage of both launch vehicles failed, and neither obtained
Earth orbit.
Score: Earth 0, Mars 2
Korabl 11 (Sputnik 22)
Failed Mars flyby attempt (USSR)
Launch: October 24, 1962
Korabl 13 (Sputnik 24)
Failed Mars flyby attempt (USSR)
Launch: November 4, 1962
Korabl 11 broke apart after reaching Earth orbit. The debris reentered
Earth's atmosphere and was tracked by the U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning
System in Alaska, who first thought it was a Soviet ICBM attack in response
to the ongoing Cuban Missile Crisis. Korabl 13 broke apart in Earth
orbit during a burn to transfer the probe to a Mars trajectory.
Score: Earth 0, Mars 4
Mars 1 (Sputnik 23)
Failed Mars flyby attempt (USSR)
Launch: November 1, 1962
Mars 1 launched successfully and began the trip to Mars, returning data
on interplanetary space. However, controllers lost contact with Mars
1 on March 21, 1963, when the spacecraft was 107 million kilometers (66 million
miles) from Earth when signal was lost. The spacecraft is now in a solar
orbit.
Score: Earth 0, Mars 5
Mariner 3
Failed Mars flyby attempt (NASA)
Launch: November 5, 1964
A shield that was designed to protect Mariner 3's instruments during launch
failed to release once the spacecraft had reached Earth orbit. With its instruments
covered and the extra weight of the shield dragging it down, the spacecraft
was unable to obtain the necessary trajectory to send it on to Mars. The
spacecraft is now in a solar orbit.
Score: Earth 0, Mars 6
Mariner 4
Successful Mars flyby (NASA)
Launch: November 28, 1964
Mars flyby: July 14, 1965
Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to fly by Mars and obtain close-up pictures
of the Red Planet, passing within 9,844 kilometers (6,117 miles) of Mars.
It then took four days to transmit the data back to Earth. Mariner 4 imaged
a large, ancient crater on Mars and confirmed the existence of a thin Martian
atmosphere composed largely of carbon dioxide. Once past Mars, the spacecraft
continued on its way, returning data until October 1965, when the orientation
of its antenna made communication with Earth impossible. However, scientists
were able to re-establish contact with Mariner 4 in late 1967 and continued
to receive data until December 20, 1967, when the mission was terminated. The
spacecraft is now in a solar orbit.
Score: Earth 1, Mars 6
Zond 2
Failed Mars flyby and descent craft attempt (USSR)
Launch: November 30, 1964
Controllers lost contact with Zond 2 after a mid-course correction maneuver
while the spacecraft was on its way to Mars. The spacecraft is now in
a solar orbit.
Score: Earth 1, Mars 7
Mariner 6
Successful Mars flyby (NASA)
Launch: February 24, 1969
Mars flyby: July 31, 1969
Mariner 7
Successful Mars flyby (NASA)
Launch: March 27, 1969
Mars flyby: August 5, 1969
Mariner 6 and 7 were identical spacecraft arriving at Mars five days apart. Mariner
6 flew by Mars at an altitude of 3,431 kilometers (2,131 miles) and Mariner
7 at 3,430 kilometers (2,131 miles). Mariner 6 returned 75 images, and Mariner
7 126 images. Data from the twin spacecraft helped establish the mass,
radius, and shape of Mars and revealed that its southern polar ice cap was
composed of carbon dioxide. The spacecraft are now in solar orbits.
Score: Earth 3, Mars 7
Mars 1969A
Failed Mars orbiter attempt (USSR)
Launch: March 27, 1969
The third stage of the rocket launching this mission to Mars failed, caught
fire, and exploded, causing the remaining pieces to crash land back on Earth.
Mars 1969B
Failed Mars orbiter attempt (USSR)
Launch: April 2, 1969
The first stage of the rocket launching this mission to Mars failed almost
immediately after liftoff.
Score: Earth 3, Mars 9
Mariner 8
Failed Mars flyby attempt (NASA)
Launch: May 8, 1971
Mariner 8, a twin to the successful Mariner 9, failed to reach Earth orbit.
Score: Earth 3, Mars 10
Kosmos 419
Failed Mars orbiter attempt (USSR)
Launch: May 10, 1971
Kosmos 419 reached Earth orbit, but its fourth stage rocket, which would
have sent the spacecraft on its way to Mars, failed to ignite. The spacecraft
re-entered the atmosphere and was destroyed.
Score: Earth 3, Mars 11
Mariner 9
Successful Mars orbiter (NASA)
Launch: May 30, 1971
Mars arrival: November 14, 1971
Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to go into orbit around another planet.
However, excitement for its arrival was subdued by a dark cloud -- literally.
A Martian dust storm, which had started in late September 1971, had grown
to cover the entire planet. When Mariner 9 arrived in November, the only surface
features visible were the summit of Olympus Mons and the three volcanoes of
Tharsis Ridge. Mission scientists had to wait about a month and a half until
the dust settled before they could begin the science portion of the mission.
When the spacecraft ran out of fuel almost a year later (on October 27, 1972),
Mariner 9 had taken a total of 7,329 images of Mars, studied the atmospheric
and surface composition of the planet, the density and pressure of its atmosphere
as well as the planet's gravity and topography. The spacecraft also provided
scientists with the first close-up views of Phobos and Deimos, the two moons
of Mars.
Score: Earth 4, Mars 11
Mars 2 or 3 orbiter
Credit: IKI
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Mars 2
Successful Mars orbiter and failed descent craft (USSR)
Launch: May 19, 1971
Mars arrival: November 27, 1971
Mars 3
Somewhat successful Mars orbiter and very briefly successful descent craft
(USSR)
Launch: May 28, 1971
Mars arrival: December 2, 1971
The identical Mars 2 and Mars 3 spacecraft each released descent craft
4.5 hours prior to their arrivals at Mars. But the landers had the misfortune
of arriving at Mars during one of the greatest dust storms in recorded history. The
Mars 2 probe descended at a steeper angle and faster rate than intended and
crashed near 45°S, 313°W. However, the Mars 3 probe used aerobraking,
parachutes, and retrorockets to descend successfully to a soft landing near
45°S, 158°W. It operated for 20 seconds on the surface before
mysteriously failing, possibly because it was blown over by the wind. Before
failing, Mars 3 may have deployed the first tiny rover onto the surface of
Mars. The Mars 2 orbiter was successfully placed in an 18-hour orbit.
The spacecraft completed 362 orbits. The Mars 3 orbiter, short on fuel,
was unable to obtain its intended 18-hour orbit. Instead, the spacecraft ended
up in an almost 13-day orbit around the planet and completed only 20 orbits.
Both spacecraft were shut down on August 22, 1972. Together, Mars 2 & 3
returned 60 images of Mars, recorded temperatures ranging from -110 to 13
degrees Celsius (-166 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit), produced surface relief maps
and studied the Martian gravity and magnetic fields.
Score: Earth 4, Mars 11, 2 Ties
Mars 4, 5, 6, and 7
Under pressure from the developing Viking mission, the USSR attempted one
last time to beat the USA to a successful soft landing on Mars in 1973. Because
of an unfavorable launch window, however, orbiters and landers were launched
separately. All four spacecraft were hurried to completion and launched
to Mars with microchips known to have serious problems. The problems
mostly doomed the missions, but Mars 4, 5, and 6 all successfully performed
radio occultation experiments of Mars’s atmosphere, proving the existence
of an ionosphere at Mars and resulting in the measurement of a 6.7-millibar
surface atmospheric pressure.
Mars 4
Failed Mars orbiter attempt (successful as a flyby) (USSR)
Launch: July 21, 1973
Mars flyby: February 10, 1974
The microchip problem caused the failure of the Mars 4 orbiter to fire
its orbit insertion rockets. It flew by Mars at a distance of 2,200
kilometers (1,370 miles), taking one set of images and collecting limited
data. It continued to function after the flyby, returning data from
solar orbit.
Mars 5
Initially successful Mars orbiter, failed after 22 days
Launch: July 25, 1973
Mars arrival: February 12, 1974
Mars 5 entered orbit successfully, but after completing 22 orbits and returning
60 images the spacecraft malfunctioned and the mission ended.
Mars 6
Slightly successful descent craft and flyby
Launch: August 5, 1973
Mars arrival: March 12, 1974
The Mars 6 descent craft separated successfully from the main spacecraft
and descended through the atmosphere, transmitting 224 seconds of data
before abruptly cutting off (either when the retrorockets fired or when it
slammed into the ground). Although this was the first data of its kind (from
within the Martian atmosphere), most of it was garbled and unusable due to
the microchip problem. Mars 6 landed at 23.90°S, 19.42°W.
Mars 7
Failed descent attempt
Launch: August 9, 1973
The Mars 7 lander separated too early, and it missed the planet
by 1,300 kilometers (800 miles).
Viking 1
Successful orbiter & lander (NASA)
Launch: August 20, 1975
Mars arrival: June 19, 1976
Mars landing: July 20, 1976
When Viking 1 entered orbit at Mars, it began taking pictures of the surface
in search of a safe landing site for the lander. Mission planners were hoping
for a July 4th landing, but the original site turned out to be too rocky.
Another site was chosen and the first successful Mars landing took place on
July 20, 1976, the seventh anniversary of the first Moon landing. Viking 1
landed in Chryse Planitia at 22.48°N, 49.97°W. The lander took extensive
weather readings and conducted experiments on soil samples collected with
a scoop. The orbiter was powered down on August 17, 1980 after 1,400 orbits.
The lander survived on the surface until November 13, 1982.
Viking 1 landing site (camera 1, morning)
Credit: NASA / JPL
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Viking 2
Successful orbiter & lander (NASA)
Launch: September 9, 1975
Mars arrival: August 7, 1976
Mars landing: September 3, 1976
The Viking 2 lander touched down in the Utopia Planitia, on the opposite
side of the planet and almost 1,500 kilometers closer to the north pole than
Viking 1 at 47.27°N, 225.99°W. One of the lander's legs settled down
on a rock, so the entire lander was tilted by about 8 degrees. The lander
took extensive atmospheric readings and conducted experiments on soil samples
that it had collected with a scoop. The Viking 2 lander quit operating
on April 11, 1980, when its batteries failed, but it lasted long enough to
see multiple winters come to its landing site and to see it cover with frost.
The Viking 2 orbiter was shut down on July 25, 1978, after 706 orbits. The
Viking 1 and 2 landers returned 1,400 images from the Martian surface. The
orbiters took 50,000 images, producing a global atlas that is still used today.
Score: Earth 6, Mars 12, 5 ties
Viking 2 landing site (camera 2, morning) Credit: NASA / JPL
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Phobos 1
Failed Mars orbiter (USSR)
Launch: July 7, 1988
Phobos 1 was designed to study the Sun and interplanetary space while on
its way to Mars. Once in orbit around Mars, it was going to study the Red
Planet and take close-up images of its moon Phobos. However, on September
2, 1988, only two months in to the flight, controllers on the ground accidentally
uploaded software containing a command that deactivated the spacecraft's attitude
control thrusters. The spacecraft then turned its solar panels away from the
Sun and was unable to recharge its batteries. As a result, the mission was
lost.
Phobos 2
Mostly failed Mars orbiter & 2 Phobos landers
Launch: July 12, 1988
Mars arrival: January 29, 1989
Phobos 2 was designed to orbit Mars and land a "hopper" and a lander
on the surface of Phobos. The spacecraft successfully went into orbit and
began sending back preliminary data. Then, on March 27, 1989, just before
the spacecraft was to move within 50 meters of Phobos and deploy the two landers,
the spacecraft's onboard computer malfunctioned and the mission was lost.
Score: Earth 6, Mars 14, 5 ties
Mars Observer
Failed Mars orbiter (NASA)
Launch: September 25, 1992
Mars Observer was designed to study the Red Planet from orbit. On August
21, 1993, only three days away from Mars, all contact with the spacecraft
was suddenly lost. Scientists were unable to determine the cause of the failure. It
is possible that Mars Observer followed its onboard program and is in orbit
around Mars. However, the results of failure investigations suggest
that a fuel line ruptured during tank pressurization, which would have caused
the spacecraft to spin uncontrollably and fail to enter orbit. Most
of the science instruments that were originally built for Mars Observer were
eventually “re-flown” on subsequent orbiters.
Score: Earth 6, Mars 15, 5 ties
Mars Global Surveyor
NASA / JPL (art by Corby Waste)
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Highly successful orbiter (NASA)
Launch: November 7, 1996
Mars arrival: September 12, 1997
Mars Global Surveyor was the first completely successful Mars orbiter since
Viking 1 shut down in 1980. The start of Mars Global Surveyor’s
science mission was delayed due to a problem with one of its solar panels
that caused its aerobraking period (which reduced its initial orbit from
an ellipse to a low-altitude, near circular one) to last for a year and
a half. Since
science operations began in March 1999, Mars Global Surveyor provided
scientists with a wealth of images and data, including the highest-resolution
images yet achieved from orbit. Many of the Mars Observer instruments were
re-flown on Mars Global Surveyor. Its mission was extended three times.
Contact was lost on November 5, 2006.
Score: Earth 7, Mars 15, 5 ties
Mars 96
Failed Mars orbiter, lander, & 2 penetrators (Russian Space Agency)
Launch: November 16, 1996
The rocket carrying the spacecraft launched successfully, but its fourth
stage ignited prematurely and sent the spacecraft crashing into the ocean. Several
of the science instruments originally built for Mars 96 were later flown on
ESA’s Mars Express.
Score: Earth 7, Mars 16, 5 ties
Mars Pathfinder
NASA / JPL
| Mars Pathfinder & Sojourner
Successful Mars lander & rover (NASA)
Launch: December 4, 1996
Mars arrival: July 4, 1997
Mars Pathfinder’s successful airbag-assisted landing was the first successful
mission to the Martian surface since Viking, 20 years earlier. The landing
site was near the mouth of Ares Vallis, at 19.33°N, 33.55°W. On
July 6, 1997, the six-wheeled rover, named Sojourner in a Planetary Society-run
contest, rolled off a ramp and onto the Martian surface. The lander, now named
the Sagan Memorial Station for The Planetary Society's co-founder Carl Sagan,
returned many images as well as weather data. The original mission was scheduled
to last for 30 days, but the lander and Sojourner continued to transmit data
until September 27, 1997 when contact with the lander was lost.
Score: Earth 8, Mars 16, 5 ties
Mars Pathfinder landing site Credit: NASA / JPL
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Mars Climate Orbiter
NASA / JPL |
Mars Climate Orbiter
Failed Mars orbiter (NASA)
Launch: December 11, 1998
Mars Climate Orbiter was lost on September 23, 1999, when a mathematical
conversion error placed the spacecraft too close to Mars at the time of orbital
insertion. Mars Climate Orbiter carried a few re-flown instruments from
Mars Observer, marking the second failures for those experiments.
Score: Earth 8, Mars 17, 5 ties
Mars Polar Lander
NASA / JPL
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Mars Polar Lander
Failed Mars lander & 2 penetrators (NASA)
Launch: January 3, 1999
Attempted landing: December 3, 1999
When Mars Polar Lander arrived at Mars, it turned its antenna away from
Earth to prepare for its entry into the Martian atmosphere. This was the last
time controllers heard from the spacecraft. A review board determined the
most likely cause for the loss of mission was a faulty software system that
may have triggered the retrorockets to turn off early, causing the lander
to crash. The spacecraft had carried The Planetary Society’s Mars
Microphone to Mars, the first privately funded hardware provided to a planetary
mission. Two microprobes, Amundsen and Scott, were piggy-backed on the
lander and expected to separate just before the lander entered the atmosphere. However,
no signal was ever received from the probes.
Score: Earth 8, Mars 18, 5 ties
2001 Mars Odyssey
NASA / JPL
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Currently in orbit at Mars (NASA)
Launch: April 7, 2001
Mars arrival: October 24, 2001.
2001 Mars Odyssey is capturing images of the Martian surface at resolutions
between those of Viking and Mars Global Surveyor, and is making both daytime
and nighttime observations of the surface in thermal infrared wavelengths
at resolutions higher than ever before. It has detected massive deposits
of water lying below Mars’ surface in near-polar regions and widespread
deposits of olivine across the planet, indicating a dry past for Mars. The
MARIE instrument measured the radiation environment at Mars to determine its
potential impact on human explorers, and found them to be 2 to 3 times higher
than expected. 2001 Mars Odyssey also serves as a communications relay
for the Mars Exploration Rovers.
Score: Earth 9, Mars 18, 5 ties
Nozomi (Planet-B)
Failed Mars orbiter (ISAS) (currently functioning in solar orbit)
Launch: July 3, 1998
Mars flyby: December 14, 2003
Originally scheduled to arrive at Mars in October 1999, Nozomi failed to
gain enough speed during an Earth flyby on December 21, 1998. The spacecraft
also used much more fuel than predicted. A looping trajectory was developed,
including two more Earth flybys, to return Nozomi to Mars for orbit insertion
in December 2003. But on April 21, 2002, a powerful solar flare damaged
Nozomi’s computer. As a result, Nozomi’s hydrazine fuel
froze during the long interplanetary trek and mission controllers were unable
to place it into orbit. Nozomi flew by Mars at a distance of 1,000 kilometers
(600 miles), and is now in a 2-year orbit around the Sun.
Score: Earth 9, Mars 19, 5 ties
Mars Express and Beagle 2
ŠESA. Illustration by Medialab.
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Currently in orbit at Mars; failed lander (ESA)
Launch: June 2, 2003
Mars arrival: December 26, 2003
Five days before its arrival Mars Express successfully pushed off the tiny,
30-kilogram Beagle 2 geochemical lander. Although it had functioned
successfully throughout cruise, the lander was never heard from again. Beagle
2 may have landed too hard, the victim of an unexpectedly thin atmosphere
at the time of its arrival. Mars Express successfully entered orbit
on December 26 and immediately began returning stunning, 3D, color images. Mars
Express has detected surprising concentrations of methane and evidence for
recent volcanism on Mars. One unusual instrument, a radar sounder, was
deployed late in the mission due to spacecraft safety concerns.
Score: Earth 9, Mars 19, 6 ties
Mars Exploration Rover
NASA / JPL / Maas
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Currently roving across Mars (NASA)
Launch: June 10, 2003
Landing: January 3, 2004
Spirit landed on Mars within Gusev crater at 14.5718°S, 175.4785° E. The
initial panorama showed a rock-strewn site similar to Pathfinder’s. Spirit
had to rove several kilometers across Mars and into its extended mission before
it found evidence for past water. The rover is now exploring ancient
Mars rocks preserved in mountains within Gusev crater. It has survived
many times longer than was planned. The lander carries a DVD provided
by The Planetary Society that carries the names of four million Earthlings,
including all Planetary Society members.
Score: Earth 10, Mars 19, 6 ties
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's "Mission Success Panorama" NASA / JPL
/ Cornell
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Currently roving across Mars (NASA)
Launch: July 7, 2003
Landing: January 24, 2004
Opportunity landed in Meridiani Planum at 354.4742°E, 1.9483°S. The
initial panorama showed a landscape like none that had ever been seen before
on any planet. Opportunity landed inside a tiny crater, where “blueberries” of
the mineral hematite were eroding out of rocks formed from the evaporation
of briny water. Opportunity is still roving across Meridiani Planum,
finding abundant evidence for the action of liquid water at that site. It
has survived many times longer than was planned. The lander carries
a DVD provided by The Planetary Society that carries the names of four million
Earthlings, including all Planetary Society members.
Score: Earth 11, Mars 19, 6 ties
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's "Mission Success Panorama" NASA
/ JPL / Cornell
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA / JPL |
In orbit at Mars (NASA)
Launch: August 12, 2005
Mars arrival: March 10, 2006
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is searching for evidence of past water on
Mars, using the most powerful camera and spectrometer ever sent to Mars.
Its cameras are also helping in the search for landing sites for future
Mars rovers and landers. After its primary mission ends in November 2008,
it will act as a communications relay for these landed missions, including
Phoenix and Mars Science Laboratory.
Score: Earth 12, Mars 19, 6 ties
Phoenix
NASA / JPL / art by Corby Waste
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Future lander (NASA)
Launch: August 4, 2007
Phoenix will land near Mars' north pole to study the water ice that is
believed to lie close to the surface there. It will have an arm that can
dig a trench into the soil.
Mars Science Laboratory
NASA / JPL
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Mars
Science Laboratory (MSL)
Future rover (NASA)
Launch: Fall 2009
Mars Science Laboratory will be the next generation of rover, building
on the successes of the Mars Exploration Rovers. It will be twice as long
and three times the weight of Spirit and Opportunity and will be able to
use precision landing techniques in order to reach a landing site in more
rugged terrain.
Phobos-Grunt
IKI (Russia)
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Phobos-Soil (Phobos-Grunt)
Future sample return mission to Phobos (Russia)
Launch: October 2009 (projected)
Phobos-Grunt is designed to land on Phobos and collect surface samples
from the Martian moon, storing them in a sample return capsule. The spacecraft
will then swing by Earth again and release the capsule, which will land
on Earth and be picked up for study. The full round trip will last 34 months.
The Planetary Society is currently studying the possibility of including
an experiment
with the mission, which will test the survivability of living organisms
in space conditions. Before the Phobos mission, Phobos-Grunt will drop
the Chinese orbiter Yinghuo-1 into Mars orbit.
Future Mars orbiter (China)
Launch: October 2009, piggybacked on Phobos-Grunt
Yinghuo-1 will be China's first planetary mission. It will be a very small orbiter
that will hitch a ride to Mars with Phobos-Grunt. It will perform studies
of Mars from an elliptical, equatorial orbit.
ExoMars
Future rover (ESA)
Launch: 2011
ExoMars will be designed to search for life on Mars. Unlike previous rovers,
ExoMars will be equipped with a drill, which will enable it to probe beneath
the Martian surface.
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