Chronology of Mars Exploration

Mission Timeline

1960
Mars 1960A - 10 October 1960 - Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)
Mars 1960B - 14 October 1960 - Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)
1961
1962
Sputnik 22 - 24 October 1962 - Attempted Mars Flyby
Mars 1 - 1 November 1962 - Mars Flyby (Contact Lost)
Sputnik 24 - 4 November 1962 - Attempted Mars Lander
1963
1964
Mariner 3 - 5 November 1964 - Attempted Mars Flyby
Mariner 4 - 28 November 1964 - Mars Flyby
Zond 2 - 30 November 1964 - Mars Flyby (Contact Lost)
1965
Zond 3 - 18 July 1965 - Lunar Flyby, Mars Test Vehicle
1966
1967
1968
1969
Mariner 6 - 25 February 1969 - Mars Flyby
Mariner 7 - 27 March 1969 - Mars Flyby
Mars 1969A - 27 March 1969 - Attempted Mars Orbiter (Launch Failure)
Mars 1969B - 2 April 1969 - Attempted Mars Orbiter (Launch Failure)
1970
1971
Mariner 8 - 9 May 1971 - Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)
Cosmos 419 - 10 May 1971 - Attempted Mars Orbiter/Lander
Mars 2 - 19 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter/ Attempted Lander
Mars 3 - 28 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter/ Lander
Mariner 9 - 30 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter
1972
1973
Mars 4 - 21 July 1973 - Mars Flyby (Attempted Mars Orbiter)
Mars 5 - 25 July 1973 - Mars Orbiter
Mars 6 - 5 August 1973 - Mars Lander (Contact Lost)
Mars 7 - 9 August 1973 - Mars Flyby (Attempted Mars Lander)
1974
1975
Viking 1 - 20 August 1975 - Mars Orbiter and Lander
Viking 2 - 9 September 1975 - Mars Orbiter and Lander
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Phobos 1 - 7 July 1988 - Attempted Mars Orbiter/Phobos Landers
Phobos 2 - 12 July 1988 - Mars Orbiter/Attempted Phobos Landers
1989
1990
1991
1992
Mars Observer - 25 September 1992 - Attempted Mars Orbiter (Contact Lost)
1993
1994
1995
1996
Mars Global Surveyor - 07 November 1996 - Mars Orbiter
Mars 96 - 16 November 1996 - Attempted Mars Orbiter/Landers
Mars Pathfinder - 04 December 1996 - Mars Lander and Rover
1997
1998
Nozomi (Planet-B) - 3 July 1998 - Mars Orbiter
Mars Climate Orbiter - 11 December 1998 - Attempted Mars Orbiter
1999
Mars Polar Lander - 3 January 1999 - Attempted Mars Lander
Deep Space 2 (DS2) - 3 January 1999 - Attempted Mars Penetrators
2000
2001
2001 Mars Odyssey - 7 April 2001 - Mars Orbiter
2002
2003
Mars Express - 2 June 2003 - Mars Orbiter and Lander
Spirit (MER-A) - 10 June 2003 - Mars Rover
Opportunity (MER-B) - 8 July 2003 - Mars Rover
2004
2005
Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter - 12 August 2005 - Mars Orbiter
2006
2007
Phoenix - 04 August 2007 - Mars Scout Lander
2008
2009
2010
2011
Phobos-Grunt - 08 November 2011 - Attempted Martian Moon Phobos Lander
Yinghuo-1 - 08 November 2011 - Attempted Mars Orbiter
Mars Science Laboratory - 26 November 2011 - Mars Rover
2012
2013
Mangalyaan - 05 November 2013 - ISRO (India) Mars Orbiter
MAVEN - 18 November 2013 - Mars Scout Mission Orbiter
2014
2015
2016
ExoMars 2016 - 14 March 2016 - ESA Mars Orbiter and Lander
2017
2018
InSight - 5 May 2018 - Mars Lander
2019
2020
Hope - 19 July 2020 - United Arab Emirates Mars Orbiter
Tianwen 1 - 23 July 2020 - Chinese Mars Orbiter and Rover
Mars 2020 - 30 July 2020 - Mars Rover and Rotorcraft
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
EscaPADE - 2025 - Dual Mars Orbiting Spacecraft
2026
Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) - 2026 - JAXA (Japan) Phobos Sample Return Mission
2027
2028
ExoMars Rover - 2028 - ESA Mars Rover, Rosalind Franklin

Other Missions

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• Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration
  

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 11 September 2024, DRW