Missions to Mars

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Missions to Mars

• Julie A. Rathbun
• Lowell Observatory

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Past Missions to Mars (US)

• Mariner 3 - 5 November 1964 - Attempted Mars
  Flyby
• Mariner 4 - 28 November 1964 - Mars Flyby
• Mariner 67 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
  AttemptedMars Orbiter (Contact Lost 8/22/93)
         

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Original Plan circa 1995

• 2 missions every launch opportunity

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Recent Current Missions
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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

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Athena - 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
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APEX 2001 lander

• 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

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The 03/05 plan full Athena
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The 03/05 lander
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How it was supposed to work
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Modified Plan circa 1999

• Same mission timeline
• Different missions

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1999 Disaster strikes

• September 23, 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter lost on
  arrival
• December 3, 1999 Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2
  lost on arrival

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And everything falls apart
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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
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Mars Exploration Rovers
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Current 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