Sylvia's_Current+Space+Missions


 * Mars Exploration Program **


 * Present Missions to Mars **


 * Here you will learn about 5 spacecrafts that NASA has launched to go to Mars, as well as one spacecraft that is planned to be launched in the near-future. [[image:mars_odyssey.jpg width="440" height="265" align="right" caption="Mars Odyssey       http://starryskies.com/articles/2003/12/mars.missions.html"]] **

On April 7th, 2001 the Mars Odyssey spacecraft was launched. On October 24th, 2001 it arrived on Mars. Between today and the time the Mars Odyssey arrived, it has taken over 130 000 images and sent information to Earth about the Martian geology, climate and mineralogy. Scientists discovered the radiation in the low-Mars orbit is an essential piece of information for the human exploration because it has a potential health effect that is twice the low-Earth orbit.

On June 10th, 2003 one of the twin spacecrafts named Spirit was launched. About a month after, June 7th, 2003 the other twin named Opportunity was launched. Spirit arrived on Mars on January 3rd, 2004 PST ( January 4, 2004 UTC) and Opportunity arrived on January 24th, 2004 PST (  January 25, 2004 UTC). The twins have traveled for many miles and have found evidence of ancient Martian environments which were pictures of wet and habitable conditions. Spirit didn’t make it to its original destination because on its way it found “Columbia Hills” and discovered different rocks that indicated the ‘early’ Mars had explosive volcanism and subsurface water. Some of the images showed weird looking bright patches of soil which was later stated as extremely salty and affected by past water soil. In the “Home Plate” inside the “Inner Basin” of the “Columbia Hills”, Spirit found thin layered rocks that are as interesting as the ones Opportunity discovered. These rocks may have clues to the history of past water in Gusev Crater which was Spirit’s original destination.

In June 2003 the Mars Express spacecraft was launched. In December of the same year, it arrived on Mars. The main goal of this mission is to search for water from the orbit. This spacecraft has made tremendous discoveries that helped answer many questions about geology, atmosphere, surface environment, history of water and potential life on Mars. The Mars Express has evidence of recent glacial activity, explosive volcanism and methane gas.



In August 2005 the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched and it arrived on Mars a year later in March. This spacecraft is different from the previous ones that are on Mars because it carries the most efficient camera that has left the planet to explore the Martian terrain. This camera enables the spacecraft to take pictures of objects as small as a dinner plate, compared to other cameras that are on Mars, can only take pictures of objects as big as a dinner table. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter also carries other scientific instruments that allow it to identify surface minerals and how dust and water got in the Martian atmosphere.



T he Mars Science Laboratory is set to be launched in the fall of 2011 and arrive approximately the year after in the fall as well. It is ** twice as long and three times as heavy as the Spirit and ** **Opportunity **** spacecrafts. This particular spacecraft has been designed to collect Martian soil and rock samples and analyze them for organic compounds and any environmental conditions that may be evidence to microbial life presently or in the past. Mars Science Laboratory is anticipated to be the first mission that will have a precise landing technique therefore it will be able to fly to a specific place on the Mars surface. One of the similarities between the twins and the Mars Science Laboratory is that they have six wheels and have many cameras on a mast. Unlike the twins, the Mars Science Laboratory will carry a laser for dissolving a thin layer of the surface of a rock to analyze any element composition. This spacecraft is filled with scientific tools that will be able to analyze Martian rocks and soils in more detail then any spacecraft have ever done. The Mars Science Laboratory will be very helpful to scientists to uncover more information about Mars and possibly some things they’ve never expected to discover. **

Present Missions to Mars Bibliography