Gallery

Images

Mars 2020 Perseverance / NASA Images and Video Library

Mars 2020 Perseverance / Mission Website

Mars 2020 Perseverance / Planetary Photojournal

Perseverance Naming / Flickr Gallery

NASA HQ Photos / Flickr Gallery

Web Videos

Perseverance Arrives at Mars (Mission Trailer)

Perseverance Launches

Perseverance Rover Equipped with Ultra-Clean Sample Tubes

Perseverance’s Test Rover on Earth

NASA’s Latest Rover Has a Name (Recap Video)

Perseverance: Road to Launch

NASA’s Latest Rover Has a Name (Recap Video)

NASA’s Latest Rover Has a Name (Recap Video)

First Drive Test of NASA’s Perseverance Rover

First Drive Test of NASA’s Perseverance Rover

Mars Science Teams Investigate Ancient Life in Australia

Mars Science Teams Investigate Ancient Life in Australia

Building NASA’s Perseverance Rover

Building NASA’s Perseverance Rover

Testing Perseverance

Testing Perseverance

Testing Perseverance

Preparing to Land Perseverance

Behind the Spacecraft (Team Member Profiles) Playlist

Behind the Spacecraft (Team Member Profiles) Playlist

Mars Playlist

Mars Playlist

Animations and Raw Videos

Perseverance B-Roll Media Reel

Perseverance B-Roll Media Reel

NASA Announces Mars 2020 Rover Name Video File

NASA Announces Mars 2020 Rover Name Video File

Mars 2020 Perseverance Animations Media Reel

Mars 2020 Perseverance Animations Media Reel

Historical Mars Missions

In addition to NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, humankind’s other missions to Mars are listed below. Each item includes mission name, country, launch date, purpose, and results.

Marsnik 1: USSR; Oct. 10, 1960; flyby; did not reach Earth orbit

Marsnik 2: USSR; Oct. 14, 1960; flyby; did not reach Earth orbit

Sputnik 22: USSR; Oct. 24, 1962; flyby; achieved Earth orbit only

Mars 1: USSR; Nov. 1, 1962; flyby, radio failed at 65.9 million miles (106 million kilometers)

Sputnik 24: USSR; Nov. 4, 1962; flyby; achieved Earth orbit only

Mariner 3: U.S.; Nov. 5, 1964; flyby; shroud failed to jettison

Mariner 4: U.S.; Nov. 28, 1964; first successful flyby July 14, 1965; returned 21 photos

Zond 2: USSR; Nov. 30, 1964; flyby; passed Mars but radio failed, returned no planetary data

Mariner 6: U.S.; Feb. 24, 1969; flyby July 31, 1969; returned 75 photos

Mariner 7: U.S.; March 27, 1969; flyby Aug. 5, 1969; returned 126 photos

Mars 1969A: USSR; March 27, 1969; orbiter; did not reach Earth orbit

Mars 1969B: USSR; April 2, 1969; orbiter; failed during launch

Mariner 8: U.S.; May 8, 1971; orbiter; failed during launch

Kosmos 419: USSR; May 10, 1971; lander; achieved Earth orbit only

Mars 2: USSR; May 19, 1971; orbiter and lander; arrived Nov. 27, 1971; no useful data, lander burned up due to steep entry

Mars 3: USSR; May 28, 1971; orbiter and lander; arrived Dec. 3, 1971; lander operated on surface for 20 seconds before failing

Mariner 9: U.S.; May 30, 1971; orbiter; operated in orbit Nov. 13, 1971 to Oct. 27, 1972; returned 7,329 photos

Mars 4: USSR; July 21, 1973; orbiter; flew past Mars Feb. 10, 1974 and collected some data, but did not achieve Mars orbit

Mars 5: USSR; July 25, 1973; orbiter; arrived Feb. 12, 1974, lasted a few days

Mars 6: USSR; Aug. 5, 1973; flyby module and lander; arrived March 12, 1974, lander failed due to fast impact

Mars 7: USSR; Aug. 9, 1973; flyby module and lander; arrived March 9, 1974, lander missed the planet

Viking 1: U.S.; Aug. 20, 1975; orbiter and lander; entered orbit June 19, 1976, and operated until Aug. 7, 1980; landed July 20, 1976, and operated until Nov. 11, 1982

Viking 2: U.S.; Sept. 9, 1975; orbiter and lander; entered orbit Aug. 7, 1976, and operated until July 25, 1978; landed Sept. 3, 1976, and operated until April 11, 1980; combined, the Viking orbiters and landers returned more than 50,000 photos

Phobos 1: USSR; July 7, 1988; Mars orbiter and Phobos lander; lost August 1988 en route to Mars

Phobos 2: USSR; July 12, 1988; Mars orbiter and Phobos lander; lost March 1989 near Phobos

Mars Observer: U.S.; Sept. 25, 1992; orbiter; lost just before Mars arrival Aug. 21, 1993

Mars Global Surveyor: U.S.; Nov. 7, 1996; orbiter; arrived Sept. 12, 1997; mapped in high detail through January 2000, completed its third extended mission in September 2006 and last communicated Nov. 2, 2006

Mars 96: Russia; Jan. 16, 1996; orbiter, two landers, and two penetrators; launch vehicle failed

Mars Pathfinder: U.S.; Dec. 4, 1996; lander and rover; landed July 4, 1997, completed prime mission and began extended mission Aug. 3, 1997, and last communicated on Sept. 27, 1997

Nozomi: Japan; July 4, 1998; orbiter; failed to enter orbit December 2003

Mars Climate Orbiter: U.S.; Dec. 11, 1998; orbiter; lost upon arrival Sept. 23, 1999

Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2: U.S.; Jan. 3, 1999; lander and two penetrators; lost on arrival Dec. 3, 1999

Mars Odyssey: U.S.; March 7, 2001; orbiter; entered orbit Oct. 24, 2001, completed prime mission Aug. 24, 2004, currently conducting extended mission of science collection and communication relay

Mars Express/Beagle 2: Europe; June 2, 2003; orbiter and lander; orbiter completed prime mission November 2005, currently in extended mission; lander lost on arrival Dec. 25, 2003

Mars Exploration Rover-A (Spirit): U.S.; June 10, 2003; rover; landed Jan. 4, 2004 for three-month prime mission inside Gusev Crater, completed several extended missions, last communicated March 22, 2010, mission declared complete May 25, 2011

Mars Exploration Rover-B (Opportunity): U.S.; July 7, 2003; rover; landed Jan. 25, 2004 for three-month prime mission in Meridiani Planum region, completed several extended missions, last communicated June 10, 2018, mission declared complete on Feb. 13, 2019

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: U.S.; Aug. 12, 2005; orbiter; entered orbit March 12, 2006, completed prime mission Sept. 26, 2010, currently conducting extended mission of science collection and communication relay

Phoenix Mars Lander: U.S.; Aug. 4, 2007; lander; landed May 25, 2008, completed prime mission and began extended mission Aug. 26, 2008, last communicated Nov. 2, 2008

Phobos-Grunt/Yinghuo 1: Russia/China; Nov. 8, 2011; Phobos lander with sample return and Mars orbiter; achieved Earth orbit only

Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover): U.S.; Nov. 26, 2011; rover; landed Aug. 6, 2012, completed prime mission, currently conducting extended science mission

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN): U.S.; Nov. 18, 2013; orbiter; entered orbit Sept. 21, 2014; completed prime mission, currently conducting extended science mission

Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan): India; Nov. 5, 2013; orbiter; entered orbit Sept. 14, 2014, completed prime mission, currently conducting extended mission

ExoMars 2016 (Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli module): Europe; March 14, 2016; orbiter and landing-demonstration module; entered orbit Oct. 19, 2016, currently conducting prime mission; unsuccessful Mars impact of Schiaparelli module Oct. 19, 2016

InSight Lander: U.S., May 5, 2018; lander; landed Nov. 26, 2018; completed prime mission, currently conducting extended science mission

Mars Cube One: U.S.; May 5, 2018; two-CubeSat data relay for InSight Lander; flew by Mars and completed relay Nov. 26, 2018, concluded operations Feb. 2, 2020

Emirates Mars Mission (Hope probe): United Arab Emirates; July 19, 2020; orbiter; expected to enter orbit February 2021

Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover (Tianwen-1): China; July 23, 2020; orbiter and rover; expected to enter orbit February 2021 and land the rover April 2021

Future

ESA (European Space Agency) and Russia’s space agency (Roscosmos) expect to launch the ExoMars 2022 mission in late September 2022 to deliver a European rover (Rosalind Franklin) and a Russian surface platform (Kazachok) to Mars June 2023.

Artist concept of Mars Sample Return Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | Full image and caption

NASA and ESA are solidifying concepts for a Mars Sample Return campaign that begins with NASA’s Perseverance rover collecting rock and other samples and storing them in sealed tubes to be left on the planet’s surface for future retrieval and return to Earth.

According to the current concept, NASA and ESA expect to undertake two launches as early as 2026: a NASA lander and an ESA orbiter. Under this schedule, ESA’s orbiter would arrive in orbit at Mars in 2027; subsequently NASA’s lander would arrive in 2028, carrying a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle) and ESA’s Sample Fetch Rover. The fetch rover’s job is to retrieve the cached samples and deliver them to the lander for transfer to the ascent vehicle; Perseverance could also deliver samples to the lander.

The ascent vehicle will then launch a special container holding the samples into Mars orbit. The ESA orbiter will rendezvous with and capture the orbiting samples in a NASA-provided payload that will further prepare the orbiting sample container for return to Earth. The ESA orbiter will fly back to Earth and the NASA Earth Entry System will land the samples on Earth.