Mars Missions:

Mars Global Surveyor - (1996-2003)

Mars Global Surveyor was the first in a decade-long series of orbiters and landers to be launched (7 November 1996) to explore Mars. The spacecraft orbits the poles of Mars and provide global maps of surface topography, distribution of minerals and monitor the planet's weather.

Mars Pathfinder - (1996-1997)

Mars Pathfinder will land on Mars, open up and allow a six- wheeled robotic rover to drive out and begin exploring the Martian terrain. The launch window for Pathfinder opens on December 2, 1996, just after the launch of Marts Global Surveyor on November 7, 1996 and Mars '96 on November16, 1996. It will be launched on Delta rocket. The single spacecraft will cruise directly to Mars, enter the atmosphere with a Viking Lander heritage heat shield and land with the aid of parachutes, rockets and airbags.


Russian Mars '96
 

The Russian Mars '96 spacecraft was launched on November 16, 1996. Unfortunately, the fourth stage of the Proton rocket malfunctioned, the Mars '96 spacecraft subsequently crashed in the Pacific Ocean the next day. A very tragic loss for all of the scientists and engineers who worked on the spacecraft for so many years.


2001 Space Odyssey - (2001-2007)

Exploration Rovers - (2003-2004)

Can you see the face on Mars?
Face on Mars
(click to learn more about it!)


 

Here are links that provide more information about Mars:

For more information on the Solar System and other planets, visit the following sites: