The InSight Mars lander, launched in May 2018, recorded the first marsquake April 6, 2019. A smaller tremor had been recorded in March but the signals were so small, its origin made it difficult to determine their source.
On May 2022, a marsquake of magnitude 5 was detected on May 4, 2022.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its first spacecraft to another planet July 3, 1998. Nozomi ("wish" or "hope") was intended to orbit Mars and study the atmosphere and solar wind. During its first flyby of Earth for a gravitational assist, Nozomi suffered a malfunctioning valve which depleted much of its fuel and left Nozomi with insufficient acceleration to reach Mars. Two more course corrections used more propellant than planned, leaving Nozomi even more depleted.
JAXA planned to put Nozomi into a heliocentric orbit for four years and make two Earth flybys to gain momentum and reach Mars at a slower velocity.
In April 2002, Nozomi was approaching Earth for another gravity assist when solar flares damaged its onboard communications and power systems. An electrical short in a power cell caused the remaining hydrazine fuel to freeze. Fortunately the fuel thawed out by the time it reached Earth, due to its proximity to the sun, and made a successful flyby in December 2002.
Another Earth flyby occurred in June 2003, but in December 2003, efforts to orient Nozomi to prepare for a main thruster orbital insertion at Mars failed. The mission was abandoned. The small thrusters were fired on December 9, 2003 so Nozomi would approach Mars to a distance of 1000 km and would not impact the surface. The spacecraft remains in a heliocentric orbit.
Zhurong, the first rover from the Chinese National Space Administration, was deployed on Mars May 22, 2021. China is the second country to land a rover on Mars.
Zhurong, named after the Chinese fire god, was launched aboard Tianwen-1 in July 2020, and landed May 15, 2021 in the Utopia Planitia. The rover was deployed a week later. By August 15, it had completed its original planned tasks and outlived its lifespan on August 18. Chinese scientists extended the mission to investigate an ancient coastal area on Mars.
It slept from October 8-20 due to strong solar radiation between Earth and Mars. After its brief rest, it continued traveling south. In May 2022, Zhurong was switched into hibernation mode to protect against the Martian winter and a major sandstorm approaching. It was expected to wake up on December 26, 2022, but by January, CNSA scientists still had not received a signal. Observations by the Tianwen-1 orbiter showed Zhurong had been covered with dust and debris, limiting its ability to collect sunlight to recharge. The build up of the dust could render the rover inactive "forever".
One of the best television shows of all time riffed one of the worst movies of all time December 21, 1991 when Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Joel and the bots sit through a poorly-acted, poorly-written movie with a lame plot. Martians kidnap Santa Claus and take him back to Mars because there isn't anyone there to give presents to the children. It marked the film debut of Pia Zadora.
Launched in July 2020, Tianwen-1, an interplanetary mission by the Chinese National Space Administration, successfully reached Mars February 10, 2021. The spacecraft carried two deployable cameras, a lander, a remote camera, and the Zhurong rover.
Tianwen-1 arrived just one day after the United Arab Emirates Space Agency's Hope orbiter.
Mariner 3, which launched November 5, 1964, was NASA's first attempt to study Mars. Unfortunately, an hour into the flight, telemetry indicated the solar panels were not working. It seemed that a separation had not taken place properly. Eight hours later the batteries in the probe died and the mission was scrapped.
Three weeks later, Mariner 4 was launched successfully to the Red Planet.
Iapetus, the third largest moon of Saturn, was discovered by Giovanni Cassini, October 25, 1671. It is unique for several reasons. First, it has a dark region, known as Cassini Regio, which is contrasted with the brightness from ice on the rest of the moon. Ice covers most of the moon.
Second, Iapetus has an inclined orbit, more than any of the regular, i.e. largest, moons. The rings of Saturn would be clearly visible because of its inclined orbit.
Third, it has an equatorial ridge that runs through the center of Cassini Regio. Mountains in this ridge rise over 12 miles of the surrounding plains, making them among the tallest mountains in the solar system. Mons Olympus on Mars is the tallest in the solar system.
The source of the dark material and why the equatorial ridge exists only in Cassini Regio are unknown.
The spacecraft Cassini passed by at a range of 1,227 km (762 miles) on September 10, 2007.
Viking 2, the second spacecraft of NASA's Viking program to Mars, was launched September 9, 1975. It reached the Red Planet in August 1976, and the lander was separated from the orbiter on September 3. The orbiter worked until July 1978 when it was turned off. It made 706 orbits of Mars and returned almost 16,000 images.
The lander touched down we Utopia Planitia and operated on the surface for almost 4 years. Viking 2 was turned off in April 1980, when its batteries failed.
The China National Space Administration successfully landed its Tianwen-1 spacecraft on Mars, May 14, 2021. It is the first attempt by the CNSA and China becomes the second nation after the US to put a craft on Mars. It touched down in the Utopia Planitia
Soon the rover Zhurong, named after the god of fire from Chinese folklore, will being its exploration of the Red Planet.
2001 Mars Odyssey, launched April 7, 2001, is a spacecraft orbiting Mars. It reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001.
In May 2002, NASA reported that Odyssey had detected large amounts of hydrogen, which could mean ice just under the planet's surface.
By October 2008, Odyssey had mapped the distribution of water below the surface of Mars.
In December 2010, it broke the record for the longest serving spacecraft at Mars and currently holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth. Its mission has been extended until 2025.
In 2013 the Siding Spring Comet passed very closely to Mars, but Odyssey, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and MAVEN were unaffected.
Red Planet, released November 10, 2000, starred Carrie-Anne Moss and Val Kilmer as part of a crew of a manned mission to Mars. It was directed by Antony Hoffman and featured Terence Stamp and Benjamin Bratt.
The movie was not successful either critically nor commercially. I enjoy the hell out of it. I watch it whenever it is on TV.
The Mars Global Surveyor, launched November 7, 1996, was a successful NASA project that mapped the surface of Mars, helping future missions identify potential landing sites. It traveled about 10 months to Mars, reaching it in September 1997.
It began its primary mapping phase in April 1999, after a series of aerobraking maneuvers to get it into an optimum orbit.
Its mission was extended in February 2001, and it was extended a second time in February 2002. In October 2006, its mission was extended a third time for another two years, but in November it suffered an error attempting to reorient a solar panel. A few days later, NASA detected a weak signal that it had gone into 'safe' mode and was waiting for instructions. Attempts to re-establish contact with the probe failed and NASA officially ended the mission in January 2007.
Mangalyaan, India's Mars Orbiter mission, was launched November 5, 2013. It was built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the first interplanetary mission for India. The ISRO is the fourth space agency to reach Mars. Mangalyaan has been orbiting Mars since September 2014.
For the third time in only the last week and a half, a rocket was launched to Mars. Today, NASA launched its spacecraft to the red planet, after China and the United Arab Emirates did the same. Perseverance was launched from Cape Canaveral this morning and should reach Mars February 18, 2021. The probe will be accompanied by a helicopter Ingenuity, which will help scout for locations for Perseverance to explore.
The China National Space Administration launched Tianwen-1, a robotic mission to Mars, earlier today! The name Tianwen means "Heavenly Questions" or "Questions to Heaven".
After a failed partnership with Russia in 2011, China began their own project which culminated in the launch today. The spacecraft consists of an orbiter and a lander with a rover. The lander will use a parachute, retrorockets and an airbag to land on the surface of Mars. The lander will release a rover.
It should enter orbit around Mars in February 2021, and the lander should touch down in April.
The United Arab Emirates launched their first mission to Mars, Hope, earlier today. The mission is expected to reach Mars in February 2021. It will study the Martian atmosphere, weather cycles and events to understand why the atmosphere is losing hydrogen and oxygen into space.
It was built by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center with the University of Colorado, Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkeley.
If it is successful, it will be the first mission to Mars by any Arab or Muslim country.
Marvin the Martian, every Earthling's favorite alien, first appeared with Bugs Bunny in Haredevil Hare, July 24, 1948! Marvin hails from the Red Planet, sporting a Roman outfit with basketball sneakers.
His (miniature) image is on the Spirit rover on Mars, just in case Martians find it so they'll know we're friendly.
Jessica Watkins, born May 14, 1988 over here in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a new astronaut candidate for NASA. She got her Bachelor's Degree in geology and environmental sciences from Stanford University and her PhD from University of California, Los Angeles.
She has been involved many projects relating to the study and exploration of Mars including collaborating on the Mars Curiosity rover. She was selected as an astronaut candidate and started her two-year astronaut training in August 2017.
The little rover that could, Opportunity, has reached the end of its record-setting mission. Launched in July 2003, Opportunity was meant to last only three months and travel only about 1000 meters, but it exceeded its life expectancy and went for almost 15 years. It traveled more than 28 miles. It made its way into Perseverance Valley, its final resting place.
It set a one-day Mars driving record by traveling 721 feet and returned more than 217,000 images. Opportunity got trapped in a sand ripple but NASA managed to free it by putting in reverse and gunning it.
Last year, a planet-wide dust storm passed over it. Before the storm, Opportunity signaled that its batteries were running low. Afterwards, NASA tried a thousand commands to restore contact but to no avail. Its last communication was received June 10.
Phobos 2, the Soviet probe launched in July 1988, entered orbit around Phobos, Martian moon, January 29, 1989. It studied the Martian atmosphere and took 37 pictures of Phobos. In March 1989, contact with the probe was lost, and the official explanation was an on-board computer malfunction.
However, an investigation of some of the pictures show that Phobos 2 might have been destroyed by a UFO after the Soviet probe took pics of the alien base, their monolith, their flying saucer and its shadow.
