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Li Lo Lu

List of Missions to Mars

by | Feb 26, 2020

A list of Missions to Mars, Past, Current and planned

The Mars 2020 rover

Credit NASA — The Mars 2020 rover

Number Launch Date Country Mission Spacecraft Launch vehicle Outcome Remarks
1 10/10/60 Soviet Union Flyby 1M No.1 Molniya Rocket Launch failure Failed to orbit
2 10/14/60 Soviet Union Flyby 1M No.2 Molniya Rocket Launch failure Failed to orbit
3 10/24/62 Soviet Union Flyby 2MV-4 No.1 Molniya Rocket Launch failure Booster stage (“Block L”) disintegrated in LEO
4 11/1/62 Soviet Union Flyby Mars 1 (2MV-4 No.2) Molniya Rocket Spacecraft failure Communications lost before flyby
5 11/4/62 Soviet Union Lander 2MV-3 No.1 Molniya Rocket Launch failure Never left LEO
6 11/5/64 United States Flyby Mariner 3 Atlas LV-3 Agena-D Rocket Launch failure Payload fairing failed to separate
7 11/28/64 United States Flyby Mariner 4 Atlas LV-3 Agena-D Rocket Successful The first flyby of Mars on 15 July 1965
8 11/30/64 Soviet Union Flyby Zond 2 (3MV-4A No.2) Molniya Rocket Spacecraft failure Communications lost before flyby
9 2/25/69 United States Flyby Mariner 6 spacecraft Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D Rocket Successful
10 3/27/69 Soviet Union Orbiter 2M No.521 (1969A) Proton-K/D Rocket Launch failure Failed to orbit
11 3/27/69 United States Flyby Mariner 7 spacecraft Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D Rocket Successful
12 4/2/69 Soviet Union Orbiter 2M No.522 (1969B) Proton-K/D Rocket Launch failure Failed to orbit
13 5/9/71 United States Orbiter Mariner 8 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D Rocket Launch failure Failed to orbit
14 5/10/71 Soviet Union Orbiter Kosmos 419 (3MS No.170) Proton-K/D Rocket Launch failure Never left LEO; booster stage burn timer set incorrectly
15 5/19/71 Soviet Union Orbiter Mars 2 (4M No.171) Proton-K/D Rocket Successful Entered orbit on 27 November 1971, operated for 362 orbits[5]
15 5/19/71 Soviet Union Lander Mars 2 lander (SA 4M No.171) Proton-K/D Rocket Spacecraft failure Deployed from Mars 2, failed to land during attempt on 27 November 1971
16 5/28/71 Soviet Union Orbiter Mars 3 (4M No.172) Proton-K/D Rocket Successful Entered orbit on 2 December 1971, operated for 20 orbits[6][7]
16 5/28/71 Soviet Union Lander Mars 3 lander (SA 4M No.172) Proton-K/D Rocket Successful[8] The first lander on Mars, soft landed on 2 December 1971. The first partial image (70 lines) was transmitted. Contact lost 14.5 seconds after transmission start.
16 5/28/71 Soviet Union Rover Prop-M Rover rover (SA 4M No.172) Proton-K/D Rocket Partial failure Deployment is unknown, due to communication problem because of storm
17 5/30/71 United States Orbiter Mariner 9 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D Rocket Successful[9] The first orbiter of Mars. Entered orbit on 14 November 1971, deactivated 516 days after entering orbit
18 7/21/73 Soviet Union Orbiter Mars 4 (3MS No.52S) Proton-K/D Rocket Spacecraft failure Failed to perform orbital insertion burn
19 7/25/73 Soviet Union Orbiter Mars 5 (3MS No.53S) Proton-K/D Rocket Partial failure Failed after 9 days in Mars orbit; returned 180 frames
20 8/5/73 Soviet Union Lander Mars 6 (3MP No.50P) Proton-K/D Rocket Spacecraft failure Contact lost upon landing, atmospheric data mostly unreadable. Flyby bus collected data.[10]
21 8/9/73 Soviet Union Lander Mars 7 (3MP No.51P) Proton-K/D Rocket Spacecraft failure Separated from coast stage prematurely, failed to enter Martian atmosphere
22 8/20/75 United States Orbiter Viking 1 orbiter Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T Rocket Successful Operated for 1385 orbits
22 8/20/75 United States Lander Viking 1 lander Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T Rocket Successful The second lander successfully returning data, deployed from Viking 1 orbiter, operated for 2245 sols
23 9/9/75 United States Orbiter Viking 2 orbiter Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T Rocket Successful Operated for 700 orbits
23 9/9/75 United States Lander Viking 2 lander Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T Rocket Successful Deployed from Viking 2 orbiter, operated for 1281 sols (11 Apr 1980)
24 7/7/88 Soviet Union Orbiter Phobos 1 (1F No.101) Proton-K/D-2 Rocket Spacecraft failure Communications lost before reaching Mars; failed to enter orbit
25 7/12/88 Soviet Union Orbiter Phobos 2 (1F No.102) Proton-K/D-2 Rocket Partial failure Orbital observations successful, communications lost before landing
26 9/25/92 United States Orbiter Mars Observer Commercial Titan III Rocket Spacecraft failure Lost communications before orbital insertion
27 11/7/96 United States Orbiter Mars Global Surveyor Delta II 7925 Rocket Successful Operated for seven years
28 11/16/96  Russia Orbiter Mars 96 (M1 No.520)(Mars-8) Proton-K/D-2 Rocket Launch failure Never left LEO
29 12/4/96 United States Lander Mars Pathfinder Delta II 7925 Rocket Successful Landed at 19.13°N 33.22°W on 4 July 1997
30 12/4/96 United States Rover Sojourner Delta II 7925 Rocket Successful The first rover on another planet, operated for 84 days
31 7/3/98  Japan Orbiter Nozomi M-V Rocket Spacecraft failure Ran out of fuel before reaching Mars
32 12/11/98 United States Orbiter Mars Climate Orbiter Delta II 7425 Rocket Spacecraft failure Approached Mars too closely during orbit insertion attempt due to a software interface bug involving different units for impulse and burned up in the atmosphere
33 1/3/99 United States Lander Mars Polar Lander Delta II 7425 Rocket Spacecraft failure Failed to land
34 1/3/99 United States Penetrator Deep Space 2 Delta II 7425 Rocket Spacecraft failure Deployed from MPL, no data returned
35 4/7/01 United States Orbiter Mars Odyssey Delta II 7925 Rocket Operational Expected to remain operational until 2025.
36 6/2/03  European Union Orbiter Mars Express Soyuz-FG/Fregat Rocket Operational Enough fuel to remain operational until 2026.
37 6/2/03  European Union Lander Beagle 2 Soyuz-FG/Fregat Rocket Lander failure No communications received after release from Mars Express. Orbital images of landing site suggest a successful landing, but two solar panels failed to deploy, obstructing its communications.
38 6/10/03 United States Rover Spirit Delta II 7925 Rocket Successful Landed on January 4, 2004.
39 7/8/03 United States Rover Opportunity Delta II 7925H Rocket Successful Landed on January 25, 2004.
40 3/2/04  European Union Gravity assist Rosetta Ariane 5G+ Rocket Successful Flyby in February 2007 en route to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko[13]
41 8/12/05 United States Orbiter Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Atlas V 401 Rocket Operational Entered orbit on March 10, 2006
42 8/4/07 United States Lander Phoenix Delta II 7925 Rocket Successful Landed on May 25, 2008.
43 9/27/07 United States Gravity assist Dawn Delta II 7925H Rocket Successful Flyby in February 2009 en route to 4 Vesta and Ceres
44 11/8/11  Russia Orbiter Fobos-Grunt Zenit-2M Rocket Spacecraft failure Never left LEO (intended to depart under own power)
45 11/8/11  China Orbiter Yinghuo-1 Zenit-2M Rocket Failure To have been deployed by Fobos-Grunt
46 11/26/11 United States Rover Curiosity Atlas V 541 Rocket Operational Landed on August 6, 2012
47 11/5/13  India Orbiter Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) PSLV-XL Rocket Operational Entered orbit on 24 September 2014. Mission extended till 2020.[14]
48 11/18/13 United States Orbiter MAVEN Atlas V 401 Rocket Operational Orbit insertion on September 22, 2014[15]
49 3/14/16  European Union/Russia Orbiter ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Proton-M/Briz-M Rocket Operational Entered orbit on October 19, 2016
50 3/14/16  European Union Lander Schiaparelli EDM lander Proton-M/Briz-M Rocket Spacecraft failure Carried by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Although the lander crashed,[16][17] engineering data on the first five minutes of entry was successfully retrieved.[18][19]
51 5/5/18 United States Lander InSight Atlas V 401 Rocket Operational Landed on November 26, 2018.
52 5/5/18 United States Two CubeSats flyby supporting InSight MarCO Atlas V 401 Rocket Successful Flyby November 26, 2018. Last contact Feb 2019
Planned Jul-20 United States Rover, helicopter The MARS 2020 Rover Atlas 541 Rocket Planned
Planned Jul-20 China Orbiter, Lander, Rover Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover (HX-1, short for Huoxing-1) Long March 5 Rocket Planned
Planned Jul-20 (delayed) European Union & Russia Lander, rover ExoMars 2020 Planned Delayed due to COVID19
Planned Jul-20 United Arab Emirates Orbiter 2020 Hope Mars Mission Planned
Planned 2022 NICT, ISSL  Japan Orbiter, lander Mars Terahertz Microsatellite Planned
Planned TBD ISRO  India Orbiter, possible lander and rover Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (Mangalyaan 2) Planned
Planned 2024 JAXA  Japan Orbiter, Phobos lander and sample return MMX（Martian Moons eXploration) Planned

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