NASA’s latest Mars rover is about to make a touch as the agency begins a long quest to bring the first Red Planet monsters back to Earth.
The Perseverance rover, which carries the Ingenuity helicopter to test the flight on Mars, will be called on February 18th. The rover’s entry, descent and landing are similar to the Curiosity rover’s “seven minutes of scare” in 2012, which includes a rocket. powered crane to lower the rover to the surface.
The new rover follows a long legacy of landers, robbers and other vessels the Red Planet has tried to explore.
Related: Exploring Mars: Landers and Robbers since 1971 (infographics)
Here’s a look at all the previous missions that have attempted to land on Mars:
March 2: (FAILED) USSR, launched on May 19, 1971. The Mars orbit and lander arrived on November 2, 1971, but yielded no useful data, and the lander burned due to the steep entrance.
March 3: (FAILED) USSR, launched on May 28, 1971. The Mars orbit and lander landed on December 3, 1971. The lander worked on the surface of Mars for 20 seconds before failing.
March 6: (FAILED) USSR, launched on 5 August 1973. The Mars flyby module and lander arrived on March 3, 1974, but the lander failed due to a rapid impact.
March 7: (FAILED) USSR, launched on 9 August 1973. The Mars flyby module and lander arrived on March 3, 1974, but the lander missed the planet.
Viking 1: US, launched on 20 August 1975. The Mars orbit was from June 1976 to 1980 and the lander was from July 1976 to 1982.
Viking 2: USA, launched September 9, 1975. The Mars orbit was from August 1976 to 1987, and the lander had from September 3, 1976 to 1980. The Viking orbits and landers collectively returned more than 50,000 photos.
Phobos 1: (FAIL) USSR, launched on July 7, 1988. The Mars orbit and Phobos lander were lost in August 1988 on their way to Mars.
Phobos 2: (FAIL) USSR, launched July 12, 1988. The Mars orbit and Phobos lander were lost in March 1989 near the Martian moon Phobos.
March 96: (FAILED) Russia, launched on November 16, 1996. The orbit, two landers and two penetrators were lost after the rocket failed.
Mars Pathfinder: SU, which was launched on 4 December 1996. The Marslander and Rover, called Sojourner, landed on July 4, 1997 and communicated with ground crews on September 27, 1997.
Mars Polar Lander / Deep Space 2: (FAILED) US, launched on January 3, 1999. The lander and two intruders were lost on their arrival in December 1999.
Beagle 2: (FAILED) European Space Agency, launched on 2 June 2003. Beagle 2 was launched on ESA’s Mars Express orbit, which completed its main mission in November 2005 and is currently on an extended mission. However, the Beagle 2 lander was lost on his arrival on December 25, 2003.
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit: US, launched on June 10, 2003. The Mars Rover landed on the Red Planet on January 4, 2004 for a three-month mission to search for signs of earlier water activities on Mars, and found extensive evidence over many years. Land controllers lost communication with Spirit in March 2010, and repeated attempts to wake the robber failed. The rover has far exceeded the intended warranty, and is considered a success. NASA declared Spirit in May 2011.
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity: US, launched on July 7, 2003. The Mars Rover landed on January 25, 2004 for a three-month main mission in the Meridiani Planum region. The wanderer recorded more than 20 kilometers on the Red Planet and was eventually overwhelmed by a lack of power due to a major sandstorm on Mars in 2018. The mission was declared on February 13, 2019, and lasted 15 years – far above design expectations – and to find sufficient evidence of water on the surface.
Phoenix Mars Lander: US, launched on August 4, 2007. The lander of Mars struck on 25 May 2008 and dug through Martian soil to confirm the presence of water ice below the surface. Phoenix’s solar panels suffered severe damage due to the harsh Martian winter, and communications with the $ 475 million lander were lost in November 2008. After repeated attempts to re-establish contact, NASA broke Phoenix in May 2010 and declared it dead.
Phobos-Grunt: (FAILED) Russia, launched on November 8, 2011 to return the samples of the Martian Moon Phobos. The $ 163 million robot investigation had a crippling malfunction shortly after launch, which got it stuck in orbit around the earth. Mission officials said Phobos-Grunt’s spacecraft could not shoot in a maneuver that would send the spacecraft to Mars. The spacecraft fell back to earth and was destroyed on January 15, 2012.
Mars Science Laboratory / Curiosity: US, launched on 26 November 2011. The $ 2.5 billion Curiosity Rover landed at Gale Crater on the night of August 5, 2012, and has spent the past few years exploring Mount Sharp / Aeolis Mons to learn the history of water throughout Mars. geological periods. The Mars Rover is investigating whether the planet has ever been hospitable to life, and that it has found enough evidence of organic molecules and water in the past decade. Its primary mission has been expanded several times.
Schiaparelli (FAIL): European Space Agency, launched on 14 March 2016 with a failed landing attempt on 19 October 2016. Schiaparelli was a landing demonstrator intended to test future landing technologies for Mars missions. It arrived safely at the Red Planet with the Trace Gas Orbiter, but conflicting data caused the small probe to crash to the surface. Fortunately, however, TGO has remained secure as planned and continues to collect data.
Insight: US, launched on 5 May 2018 and landed on 26 November 2018. InSight was equipped to examine the inside of Mars and found sufficient evidence of marsquakes. One of its larger goals is to better understand the history and formation of rocky planets, using Mars as a test bed for our theories. Engineers spent two Earth years placing a heat-seeking mole below the surface, but the effort was eventually discontinued because the regolith (soil) was more difficult than expected. InSight is now on an extensive mission and achieving its main objectives.
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