Exploring the Red Planet
Navigate through the missions launched to the Red Planet from 1960 to today.
Base de Datos
The Zhurong rover operated for 356 sols in Utopia Planitia, traveling 1921 meters. Its radar data revealed deep sedimentary structures, buried paleopolygonal wedges at 35 meters, and tilted littoral layers at 14.5°, confirming a humid past and an ancient ocean in northern Mars.
The CNSA Tianwen-1 orbiter consolidated independent Chinese exploration at Mars, operating stably into 2026. Key achievements include the 76 m true-color global orthomosaic map, the MTW120 global gravity model, and the detailed three-dimensional capture of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
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The UAESA Hope probe revolutionized Martian meteorology through a high elliptical orbit that enabled continuous modeling of the global atmosphere across all local time zones. Its key achievements include discovering the sinuous discrete aurora, patchy proton aurora, confirming Deimos's planetary basaltic origin, and intercepting the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
The ExoMars TGO mission (2016) is an ESA/Roscosmos orbiter focused on detecting trace gases. Following successful aerobraking in 2018, it operates in a circular science orbit. It has detected subsurface water and serves as the primary communication relay for all active rovers on Mars.
MAVEN concluded its mission on June 3, 2026. Over 11 years, it quantified Martian atmospheric erosion, establishing that 66% of primordial argon was lost via sputtering. Despite the loss of control in December 2025, its scientific and operational legacy for the rovers is fundamental.
Launched in 2011, the Curiosity (MSL) mission revolutionized Martian exploration by using the "Sky Crane" landing system to deposit a 900 kg nuclear-powered rover in Gale Crater in 2012. The mission confirmed that Mars once hosted ancient freshwater lakes and complex organic molecules, validating that the planet held habitable conditions in the past. It remains operational after more than 12 years.
