Originally posted by RAAFY
exactly two inferior US rovers made it but Zero of Europe's have made it because of their great technology. It would be interesting if the other
Rover thats landing soon will make it now that the Aliens from mars know wat to look for.
Since you are so adamant about NASA's Spirit & Opportunity Rovers having inferior technology to the ESA's Beagle Geochemical Lander, I'm sure that
you are prepared to back up your assertion with some facts.
A Little History - (For those interested in Facts)
Mars has been one of the most popular destinations for missions beyond the Earth. Since 1960 the United States and the Soviet Union/CIS have launched
34 missions to Mars: 15 by the US and 19 by Russia and the former USSR. NASA�s success rate is not too bad: nine of those 15 missions, including the
Mars Global Surveyor and 2001 Mars Odyssey missions still in progress, (and also not including the current Spirit and Opportunity program... which is
ongoing), can be considered successes. Russia�s luck has not been nearly as good with 14 of its 19 missions failing.
Below is a list of Mars missions.
________________
Mars Mission Launch Sequence
Historic Mars Missions:
1960 October 10, A2-e (Vostok)
(Mars 60A), also Koralb 4 (USSR): Failed to achieve Earth orbit
1960 October 14, A2-e
(Mars 60B), also Koralb 5 (USSR): Failed to achieve Earth orbit
1962 October 24, A2-e
Sputnik 22, also Mars 62A or Koralb 11 (USSR): Failed to leave
Earth orbit (blew up)
1962 October 24, A2-e
Mars 1 (USSR): First probe to pass Mars (at about 190,000 km),
but contact lost on March 21, 1963
1962 November 4, A2-e
Sputnik 24, also Mars 62B or Koralb 13 (USSR): Failed to leave
Earth orbit (blew up)
1964 November 5, Atlas-Agena D
Mariner 3 (Nasa): Launched by Atlas-Agena D, Mariner 3 went into
Solar orbit, but as the aerodynamic protection shroud failed to
be jetisoned, it reached a wrong orbit and failed Mars by a wide
margin
1964 November 28, Atlas-Agena D
Mariner 4 (Nasa): First successful Mars mission. Passed the red
planet at 9825 km on July 14, 1965, and returned 22 TV pictures
of its surface. Discovered the cratered nature of Mars' surface.
Mariner 4 image; Mariner 4 mission page (JPL); Mariner 4 page in
Calvin Hamilton's solar system tour (Hawaii Astronomical
Society)
1964 November 30, A2-e
Zond 2 (USSR): Passed Mars at less than 1000 miles (1500 km) on
August 6, 1965, but communications was lost on May 4 or 5, 1965,
so no data were returned.
[1965 July 18], A2-e
Zond 3 (USSR): Flight to Mars orbit (not the planet).
Transmitted 25 images of the lunar far side, communication from
up to 31 million km
1967 March 27, A2-e
(unnamed Mars ?) (USSR): Launch Failure
1969 February 24, Atlas-Centaur
Mariner 6 (Nasa): Successful fly-by at 2120 miles (3410 km)
occurred on July 31, 1969. Returned data and 75 photos, mainly
from the equatorial region. Found that most of Mars' atmosphere
was made of carbon dioxide. Mariner 6 or 7 image; Mariner 6 & 7
mission page (JPL); Mariner 6 & 7 page in Calvin Hamilton's
Solar System tour (Hawaii Astronomical Society)
1969 March 27, Atlas-Centaur
Mariner 7 (Nasa): Successful fly-by at 2190 miles (3524 km) on
August 5, 1969; returned data and 126 photos, flying over the
south polar region. Was probably struck and slightly damaged by
meteor a few days before arrival. Mariner 6 or 7 image; Mariner
6 & 7 mission page (JPL); Mariner 6 & 7 page in Calvin
Hamilton's Solar System tour (Hawaii Astronomical Society)
1969 March 27, D1-e (Proton)
(Unnamed Mars 69A) (USSR): Failed to achieve Earth orbit
1969 April 14, D1-e
(Unnamed Mars 69B) (USSR): Failed to achieve Earth orbit
1971 May 8, Atlas-Centaur
Mariner 8 (Nasa): Due to second stage failure of the launcher,
fell into Atlantic.
1971 May 10, D1-e
Cosmos 419 (USSR): Intended orbiter/lander mission, failed to
leave Earth orbit
1971 May 19, D1-e
Mars 2 (USSR): The Mars 2 Orbiter reached Mars orbit of
860x15,500 miles (1380x25,000 km) successfully on November 27,
1971. The lander became the first human-made object to reach the
surface of Mars when it crashed on the planet on the same day.
Because of a global dust storm at arrival time, the orbiter
could return only pictures with little surface detail.
1971 May 28, D1-e
Mars 3 (USSR): The Orbiter reached Mars orbit (930x124,000
miles, 1500x200,000 km) successfully on December 2, 1971. The
lander achieved the first soft landing on Mars on the same day
(at 45 deg S, 158 deg W, between Electris and Phaetontis
regions), but failed after 110 seconds after transmitting a
small portion of a picture. Together with the images returned by
Mars 2, a color picture of the global dust storm of December
1971 was composed.
1971 May 30, Atlas-Centaur
Mariner 9 (Nasa): Successfully achieved Mars orbit of 850 x
10,650 miles (1390 x 17,140 km) to become Mars' first artificial
satellite, and returned 7,329 TV pictures covering the entire
surface of Mars, providing the first full photographic atlas, or
photo globe, of a celestial body, until it was shut down on
October 27, 1972 after 698 orbits, or 349 days in orbit (a total
mission of 515 days). Discovered volcanoes, flow channels, and
more surface structures. Mariner 9 image: 7k gif, 21k jpg, 279k
jpg; Mariner 9 mission page (JPL); Mariner 9 page in Calvin
Hamilton's Solar System tour (Hawaii Astronomical Society);
Mariner 9 stuff from the NSSDC database.
1973 July 21, D1-e
Mars 4 (USSR): Intended Mars orbiter; arrived at Mars on
February 10, 1974, but failed to get inserted in Mars orbit, and
passed by the planet at 2240 km.
1973 July 25, D1-e
Mars 5 (USSR): Reached Mars orbit on February 12, 1974, but
failed 10 days after orbit insertion, after returning some
photos.
1973 August 5, D1-e
Mars 6 (USSR): Lander spacecraft; crashed on Mars on March 12,
1974.
1973 August 9, D1-e
Mars 7 (USSR): Intended lander, missed Mars by 1280 km on March
9, 1974.
1975 August 20, Titan IIIe - Centaur - TE 364-4
Viking 1 (Nasa): Orbiter and lander mission (a Viking craft is
shown in our image; the lander is sitting above the orbiter,
packed in the protection cover). The spacecraft reached Mars
orbit on June 19, 1976, the lander softlanded on Mars on July
20, 1976, in Chryse Planitia at 22.48 d North areographic
latitude, 48.01 d Western longitude. Both orbiter and lander
performed extremely successful missions, but the lander's bio
experiments returned ambiguous results concerning microbiotic
life on Mars. Viking Orbiter 1 was successfully working until
August 7, 1980, when it went out of altitude control propellant,
Viking Lander 1 until November 13, 1982 when it was accidentally
shut down.
1975 September 5, Titan IIIe - Centaur - TE 364-4
Viking 2 (Nasa): Orbiter and lander mission. Reached Mars orbit
on August 7, 1976, lander softlanded on September 3, 1976, in
Utopia Planitia 47.97 d N, 225.74 d W, 7,420 km North-East of
Viking 1. Both Viking 2 orbiter and lander were equally
successful as the sister craft Viking 1; Viking Orbiter 2 was
active until July 25, 1978, when its altitude control propellant
had been used up, Viking Lander 2 returned data up to August 7,
1980, when Viking Orbiter 1 was shut down, which had been served
as communications relay.
Both Viking missions were extremely fruitful in both the quality
and the quantity of accquired data: The orbiters collected some
52,000 images and cartographed 97 per cent of the Martian
surface from orbit, often from different angles so that the
topography could be determined. The landers returned some 4,500
photos and weather data from the Martian surface, documenting
seasonal changes, besides the well-known soil investigations and
bio experiments. Viking spacecraft image (inflight configuration
with orbiter and lander; shown in this page); Viking info,
images and links at SEDS; Viking homepage at Nasa's NSSDC;
Viking homepage at NASM; Viking page in Calvin Hamilton's Solar
System tour (Hawaii Astronomical Society)
1988 July 5, D1-e
Phobos 1 (USSR): Intended to investigate Mars' moon Phobos, this
craft lost contact midway on September 2, 1988 because of an
erroneous control command sequence. Phobos Homepage; Phobos
image [10k gif]; Phobos image [29k jpg]; Phobos page in Calvin
Hamilton's Solar System tour (Hawaii Astronomical Society)
1988 July 12, D1-e
Phobos 2 (USSR): Successfully reached Mars orbit on January 29,
1989, and returned data and photos of Mars and Phobos. During an
approaching manoeuver to Phobos, the craft lost orientation due
to computer defect, and suffered energy loss, which terminated
the mission. Phobos Homepage; Phobos image [10k gif]; Phobos
image [29k jpg]; Phobos page in Calvin Hamilton's Solar System
tour (Hawaii Astronomical Society)
1992 September 25, Titan IIIe-TOS
Mars Observer (Nasa): Reached Mars on August 21, 1993, and sent
some TV images on approach. Contact was lost during its orbit
insertion ignition; it may have been damaged, blewn up, or
simply frozen after having lost orientation. Mars Observer
spacecraft image [22k gif, caption]; Mars Observer images at
SEDS; Mars Observer Images from its interplanetary cruise at
Malin Space Science Systems; Mars Observer page at HEASARC
(GSFC/Nasa)
1996 November 7, Delta II
Mars Global Surveyor (Nasa): Mars orbiter, launched from KSC, Cape
Canaveral. Reached Mars and successfully entered Mars orbit on
September 11, 1997. Uses aerobraking for achieving the low Mars orbit
required for the intended orbital investigations of the Red Planet, to
begin in early 1998. MGS spacecraft image [141k gif]; MGS info, images
and links at SEDS; MGS Homepage
1996 November 16, D1-e
Mars 96 (Russia): intended Mars orbiter with 4 landers and 2
penetrators; experiments from 22 countries. Failed to leave Earth
orbit, and decayed soon after liftoff. Mars 96 homepage
1996 December 4, Delta II
Mars Pathfinder (Nasa); renamed Carl Sagan Memorial Station
after landing: Mars lander with Sojourner rover. Launched from
KSC, Cape Canaveral; softlanded on Mars on July 4, 1997, in
direct approach, in Ares Valley, at 19.5 d N, 32.8 d W.
Sojourner was released to the Martian surface on July 6, and
performed investigations of Martian soil and rocks around MPF.
Both spacecraft operated extremely successful until the last
data transmission on September 27, 1997, and after a last signal
received on October 7, 1997, contact was lost, perhaps because
of battery failure partially due to falling temperatures at the
landing site. MPF image; Sojourner image; MPF info, images and
links at SEDS; Mars Pathfinder homepage
1998 July 4 (M-V)
Nozomi (Hope), formerly Planet-B (Japan). Orbiter to study Mars'
upper atmosphere. After 2 Lunar and one Earth swingby manouvers,
the craft got "insufficient acceleration", causing a delay of
more than 4 years for its arrival at Mars, which is now to occur
in December 2003. Nozomi image [158k gif]
1998 October 24 - not a Mars mission!
Deep Space 1 (Nasa). Was scheduled as Asteroid/Mars/Comet flyby
mission, with scheduled Mars encounter on April 18, 2000. With
lauch shifted from 1998 July 1 to October 24, this mission was
newly targetted and no more included a Mars flyby. Deep Space 1
homepage
1998 December 10 Mars Climate Orbiter (Nasa), former Mars
Surveyor 1998 Orbiter. Was to study Martian weather and climate.
Contact to spacecraft lost when it disappeared behind planet
Mars for Mars Orbit Insertion on September 23, 1999. The
spacecraft was probably destroyed in Mars' atmosphere when it
came too close to the planet due to a navigation error. Mars
Climate Orbiter image [5k jpg]; MCO homapage and Mars Surveyor
98 page (JPL)
1999 January 3 Mars Polar Lander (Nasa), former Mars Surveyor
1998 Lander. To study soil and meteorology near South Polar
region; to carry two soil penetrator microprobes (Deep Space 2).
Mars Polar Lander image [25k jpg]; MPL, DS 2 and Mars Surveyor
98 homepage (JPL)
Missions currently under way:
1996 November 7, Delta II, currently operating in Mars orbit.
Mars Global Surveyor (Nasa): Mars orbiter, launched from KSC,
Cape Canaveral. Reached Mars and successfully entered Mars orbit
on September 11, 1997. Uses aerobraking for achieving the low
Mars orbit required for the intended orbital investigations of
the Red Planet, to begin in early 1998.
1998 July 4 (M-V)
Nozomi (Hope), formerly Planet-B (Japan). Orbiter to study Mars'
upper atmosphere. After 2 Lunar and one Earth swingby manouvers,
the craft got "insufficient acceleration", causing a delay of
more than 4 years for its arrival at Mars, which is now to occur
in December 2003. Planet-B image [158k gif]
1999 January 3
Mars Polar Lander (Nasa), former Mars Surveyor 1998 Lander. To
study soil and meteorology near South Polar region; to carry two
soil penetrator microprobes (Deep Space 2). Mars Polar Lander
image [25k jpg] MPL, DS 2 and Mars Surveyor 98 homepage (JPL)
Missions scheduled for the future:
2001 March
Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter (Nasa). To test aerocapture
techniques, study Mars from orbit, serve as communications relay
for lander. Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter info (NSSDC)
2001 April
Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander (Nasa). To carry a rover (Athena),
perform studies on Mars surface. Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander info
(NSSDC)
2003 January
Rosetta (ESA). Mars/asteroid/comet mission, will flyby Mars for
gravity assist in 2006, to finally reach and land on Comet
Wirtanen. Rosetta homepage at ESOC/ESA
2003
Mars Surveyor 2003 Orbiter (Nasa). To study Mars from orbit, and
serve as communications relay. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)
2003
Mars Surveyor 2003 Lander (Nasa). To carry a rover, and perform
various studies on Martian surface. Mars 2003 and 2005 page
(NSSDC)
2003, D1-e
Mars Express (ESA), Orbiter and several landers (to be
confirmed) Esa News on Mars Express
[Edited on 24-1-2004 by intelgurl]