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With last month’s safe arrival of the Phoenix Mars Lander, Mars enthusiasts breathed a collective sigh of relief… phew. Now it’s time to search for evidence of organic molecules in the ice at Mars’ north pole. But this is just the latest in a long series of missions sent to the Red Planet. Let’s have a history lesson, and look back at the missions sent to Mars, successful and unsuccessful.
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Shownotes
Early Mission to Mars
- NASA/JPL Webpage Listing of Missions to Marss (US & USSR)
- The Planetary Society’s Listing of Missions to Mars (US & USSR)
- Early NASA Mission to Mars
Viking Mission
- Viking 1 & 2
- Orbiter Images
- Composite Image of Mars from Viking Orbiter (mentioned by Fraser)
- “Face on Mars” image and information
- Viking 1 Lander Images
- Viking 2 Lander Images
- Malin Space Science Systems webpage about Viking images, discusses “blue” sky
Later Missions
Mars Global Surveyor
- Mars Global Surveyor official website
- Science goals for MGS
- MGS Technology and Science InstrumentsÂ
- MGS Important Discoveries
- Report on Reason for Loss of Contact with MGS
Pathfinder Mission
- Official JPL/NASA Pathfinder website
- Information about Pathfinder airbags
- Catalog of Pathfinder Images and Science Results
Recent failed missions
- Mars Climate Orbiter
- Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2
- Nozomi/Planet B mission:Â Official Japan Space Agency website
Additional Information:
- Recipe for Martian cookies (to give to the USSR engineers)
- Universe Today article about the difficulties of landing on Mars