Mars Exploration Program

“We are all astronauts, really, right?
interstellar astronauts,traveling so far in the dark that we can never go back

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MEP

GOALS

According to NASA, there are four overarching goals of the MEP, all related to understanding the potential for life on Mars.

01

Determine if life ever existed before

To understand the potential for habitability of Mars, it is necessary to determine whether there was life on Mars or not, which begins with assessing the suitability of the planet for life.

02

Determine the climate of Mars

Another goal of the MEP is to decide the current and past climate of Mars, as well as the factors that influence climate change on Mars.

03

Determine the geology of Mars

One goal of the MEP is to understand differences with Earth along with how wind, water, volcanoes, tectonics, craters, and other processes have shaped the surface of Mars.

04

Be ready for human exploration

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MEP

BACKGROUND

  • Mars 1960A

    Mars 1M/1 and Mars 1M/2 probes, designated as Mars 1960A and Mars 1960B; they were the first Soviet attempts to go to Mars. However, various problems prevented these probes from being the first to achieve this since none ever left our planet.

    Launch Date: March 20 1995

    Cost: $20 Billion Dolars

    Country: 20 Billion Dolars

  • Mariner 9

    Mariner 9 was launched towards its destination on May 30, 1971, reaching Mars on November 13 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.

    Launch Date: March 20 1995

    Cost: $20 Billion Dolars

    Country: 20 Billion Dolars

  • Viking Program

    NASA's Viking program consisted of two unmanned missions to the planet Mars, known as Viking I and Viking II. This program was succeeding Mariner 9, an orbital probe launched to Mars in 1971 with remarkable success; the Viking ships would also represent the first two US landing missions on Mars and the first biological study of it.

    Launch Date: March 20 1995

    Cost: $20 Billion Dolars

    Country: 20 Billion Dolars

  • Mars Observer

    The Mars Observer was a probe launched on September 25, 1992 by the United States to study the planet Mars. It was NASA's first Martian mission after the Viking launch in 1975-76. It must have been in orbit for a Martian year to study the planet. However, contact with the probe was lost three days before entering orbit of Mars.

    Launch Date: March 20 1995

    Cost: $20 Billion Dolars

    Country: 20 Billion Dolars

    • MEP

    PROGRAMS

    OPORTUNITY

    "Opportunity was a rover robot on the planet Mars active from 2004 to 2018"

    Mission details

    Mission duration: 5,352 Martian suns

    Rover weight: 185 kg

    Distance traveled: 45,16 km

    Maker: NASA

    CURIOSITY

    "Curiosity is a space mission that includes a NASA-led Martian rover"

    Mission details

    Mission duration: 1 Martian year

    Total weight: 899 kg

    Launch Place: Cabo cañaneral Space Launch Complex 41

    Maker: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    PERSEVERANCE

    "It is a Mars rover vehicle designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of the MEP's Mars 2020 mission"

    Mission details

    Mission duration: 1 Martian year

    Landing Place: Jezero crater

    Another vehicle: Ingenuity helicopter

    Maker: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Boeing and Lockheed Martin

    MEP Future Plans

    Know more about MEP Here