Missions to MarsMissions to MarsJulie A. Rathbun

Lowell Observatory

Past Missions to Mars (US)Past Missions to Mars (US)• Mariner 3 - 5 November 1964 - Attempted Mars Flyby• Mariner 4 - 28 November 1964 - Mars Flyby• Mariner 6&7 – February & March 1969 - Mars Flyby • Mariner 8 - 8 May 1971 - Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch

Failure)• Mariner 9 - 30 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter• Viking 1 - 20 August 1975 - Mars Orbiter and Lander• Viking 2 - 9 September 1975 - Mars Orbiter and Lander• Mars Observer - 25 September 1992 – Attempted

Mars Orbiter (Contact Lost – 8/22/93)        

Original Plan – circa 1995Original Plan – circa 1995

• 2 missions every launch opportunity

Recent & Current MissionsRecent & Current Missions

What happened?What happened?• The life of the 2001 Mars

rover….• In 1997, NASA asked

scientists for proposals for the science instruments for a 2001 sample collection rover

• Another sample collection rover would be sent in 2003, with a sample retrieving rover sent in 2005 and samples arriving on earth in 2008

Athena - originalAthena - original• Athena, a suite of instruments

proposed by Steve Squyres of Cornell University, was selected

• Remote science instruments:– Pancam– Mini-TES

• In-Situ science instruments:– Mini-Corer– Microscopic Imager– APXS– Mossbauer Spectrometer

NASA quickly discovered that this mission was too ambitious

• The 2001 rover was downgraded to APEX, a lander mission with– some Athena instruments on the lander (copy of

previous lander)– A Sojurner clone with APXS

Pancam

APXS

Mössbauer Spectrometer

Mini-TES

APEX – 2001 landerAPEX – 2001 lander

The ’03/’05 plan – “full” AthenaThe ’03/’05 plan – “full” Athena

The ’03/’05 landerThe ’03/’05 lander

How it was supposed to workHow it was supposed to work

Modified Plan – circa 1999Modified Plan – circa 1999

• Same mission timeline

• Different missions

1999 – Disaster strikes1999 – Disaster strikes• September 23, 1999 – Mars Climate Orbiter lost

on arrival • December 3, 1999 – Mars Polar Lander/Deep

Space 2 lost on arrival

And everything falls apart…And everything falls apart…

Now what?Now what?• The APEX lander was a virtual copy of Mars

Polar Lander.• With the failure of that spacecraft, APEX was

scrapped• The 2001 Orbiter Mission is a go –

launched April 7, 2001

• NASA decides to fly EITHER an orbiter or a rover in 2003

• And the winner is…. ROVER

Mars Exploration RoversMars Exploration Rovers

Current Plan – circa 2001Current Plan – circa 2001

• 2001 Mars Odyssey (no lander)• 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (no orbiter)• 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (no lander)• Beyond 2007

– Smart Lander and Long-range Rover – as early as 2007

– Sample Return – as early as 2011, likely 2014