Mars has Earth-like features and may contain liquid water. The Phoenix mission searched for signs of microbial life and was the first led by a university team. Mars has three operational orbiters and new missions are planned, including a network of rovers and eventual manned expeditions by NASA and the European Space Agency.
Mars is the fourth planet outside the Sun in our Solar System and has fascinated humans for centuries. It has many Earth-like features, an Earth-like rotation period and seasons, and it is possible that Mars contains liquid water in some form. Research on Mars in recent decades has been full of surprises and a wealth of information, and currently Mars research is a priority in the space programs of many nations.
One of the most recent missions to Mars was the Phoenix mission, which launched on August 4, 2007. The lander reached the surface on May 25, 2008 and began its mission to search for signs of microbial life and to further explore the history of water above and below the surface of the planet. Phoenix represented a new chapter in Mars research, as it was the first mission led by a university team, led by the University of Arizona, and with partners from universities in six nations, as well as space organizations in various countries and private sector. This type of inter-agency cooperation is likely to be a common theme in future Mars research, as funding becomes scarcer at the government level and the potential for university researchers to add substantially to missions becomes more apparent.
The planet also has three operational orbiters around it, more than any other planet aside from Earth. Mars Express was launched by the European Space Agency in June 2003 and was the first large-scale mission launched by ESA. The Mars Express provided a wealth of information to scientists and also served as a support orbiter for landing missions. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched by NASA in August 2005, serves as a reconnaissance vehicle for landing missions and other orbiters, monitoring weather information and analyzing surface conditions. The orbiter also has the most advanced telecommunications equipment to date, allowing massive amounts of data to be transmitted to Earth.
Following the Phoenix mission, a number of new missions to Mars are planned, broadening the scope of research on Mars today. In 2011, an improved version of the Mars Exploration Rovers, called the Mars Science Laboratory, will set off for Mars. The MSL will be able to do everything the Mars Rovers were, but it will be much faster and will have additional capabilities, such as a laser analyzer that can detect the composition of rocks from great distances.
Finland and Russia are joining forces in the MetNet programme, which aims to provide a much more comprehensive way of looking at Mars. Dozens of rovers will be positioned on the planet at different points, to form a network of observatories that can begin to delve into the atmosphere and meteorology of Mars. These rovers will be launched from 2009 to 2019.
Finally, both the European Space Agency and NASA plan to send a manned expedition to Mars in the coming decades. NASA is planning to use the Orion mission to the Moon around 2020 as a gateway to jump to Mars by 2037. Similarly, the European Space Agency will launch missions leading to an eventual manned mission in years 2030, including a probe that will return to Earth with samples from Mars.
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