All Missions

Opportunity

Launched on a Delta II Heavy in 2003, Opportunity (MER-B) landed on Meridiani Planum, Mars, in January 2004. Designed for 90 days, it operated for nearly 15 years, traversing 45.16 km (a record). It confirmed past liquid acidic water by discovering hematite and jarosite. A global dust storm in 2018 depleted its batteries, ending the mission in 2019.

Spirit

The Spirit rover (MER-A) explored Gusev Crater starting in 2004. Outlasting its 90-day mission, it operated until 2010. Its discovery of pure silica deposits proved ancient hydrothermal systems, transforming our understanding of Mars' watery past and its potential habitability.

Mars Express

Launched in 2003 aboard a Soyuz-Fregat, Mars Express is ESA's first planetary mission. The orbiter achieved a successful insertion and has operated for over two decades. It has revolutionized our understanding of Mars by confirming subsurface water ice, detecting methane, and mapping hydrated minerals that prove a habitable past.

Beagle 2

Beagle 2, an ambitious British lander launched in 2003 alongside Mars Express, aimed to search for chemical traces of life in Isidis Planitia. After landing on Christmas Day, complete silence followed. In 2015, orbital images revealed its cruel fate: it landed intact, but its solar panels failed to fully deploy, trapping its radio antenna and condemning the probe to eternal isolation.

Mars Pathfinder

Launched in 1996, Mars Pathfinder was the first completed mission under NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" philosophy. It pioneered the use of an airbag landing system and successfully deployed the first rover on Mars, Sojourner. The mission landed in Ares Vallis, returned over 17,000 images, and performed in-situ chemical analysis of rocks and soil, far exceeding its expected operational lifespan.

Sojourner

The Mars Pathfinder mission (1996) was a milestone that validated airbag landing systems and deployed the first mobile vehicle on Mars, the Sojourner. Designed to last 7 sols, the 10.6 kg rover operated for 83 sols, analyzing rock chemical composition with its APXS spectrometer and capturing 550 images. The mission confirmed a watery past in Ares Vallis and demonstrated the success of NASA's low-cost philosophy.