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Because of the proximity of the Mars moons to Mars, any mission to them may also be considered a mission to Mars from some perspectives. Past missions Three missions to land on Phobos have been launched; the Soviet Phobos program in the late 1980s saw the launch of Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 , while the Russian Fobos-Grunt sample return mission was ...
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. [ 1 ]
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER), started in 2003, was a robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity, (MER-B) that explored the Martian surface geology. The mission's scientific objective was to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars.
This is a list of space probes that have left Earth orbit (or were launched with that intention but failed), organized by their planned destination. It includes planetary probes, solar probes, and probes to asteroids and comets, but excludes lunar missions, which are listed separately at List of lunar probes and List of Apollo missions.
Artist's rendition of Mars Express as seen by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor Image of Mars Express in orbit at Mars. 2001 Mars Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001 on a Delta II rocket and currently holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth at 23 years, 3 months and 17 days.
Artist's conception of a human mission on the surface of Mars. 1989 painting by Les Bossinas of NASA's Lewis Research Center. A Space Launch System design in the 2010s. This rocket is envisioned as the launch vehicle for some of the latest NASA speculative long-term plans for Mars concepts, although there are some bold private venture plans that may also provide mass-to-orbit for any mission ...
A nuclear-powered shuttle or ferry using the NERVA engine, to move crew, spacecraft and supplies between low Earth orbit and lunar orbit, geosynchronous orbit, or to other planets in the solar system. A crew module derived from the space station module would be used to send humans to the Moon or Mars. The tug and ferry vehicles would be of a ...
Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is a long-term effort to explore the planet Mars, funded and led by NASA.Formed in 1993, MEP has made use of orbital spacecraft, landers, and Mars rovers to explore the possibilities of life on Mars, as well as the planet's climate and natural resources. [1]