NASA Programs
Mars Exploration Program
Orbiters, landers and rovers—from Pathfinder to Perseverance—reading Mars up close.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Program is a sustained campaign of orbiters, landers and rovers. Mars Pathfinder and the Sojourner rover landed in 1997 and proved airbag landings and a small mobile robot. The twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed in 2004 and far outlived their warranties. Phoenix sampled arctic soil in 2008. Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) landed in Gale Crater in 2012 and continues to climb Mount Sharp.
Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in February 2021 with a suite of instruments and the Ingenuity helicopter, which achieved the first powered controlled flight on another planet. Perseverance is collecting carefully documented rock samples for a future return to Earth. Orbiters including Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and MAVEN provide the relay links and global context.
The program’s through-line is a single scientific question pursued with many vehicles: was Mars ever habitable, and are there signs of past life?
Milestones
- 1997-07-04Pathfinder — Airbag landing and Sojourner begin the modern rover era.
- 2004Spirit & Opportunity — Twin MERs begin long traverses across Meridiani and Gusev.
- 2012-08-06Curiosity — Sky-crane landing in Gale Crater.
- 2021-02-18Perseverance — Landing in Jezero Crater; sample caching and Ingenuity flights begin.
Summary original to flyARIA.com. Photograph: NASA/JPL-Caltech. NASA images are generally not protected by copyright in the United States; credit does not imply endorsement.