Mars Apparition 2009/2010

Phoenix Mars Lander successfully launched on August 4, 2007 - softlanded May 25, 2008 (UT) - concluded mission on Mars November, 2008
2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - arrived March 10, 2006 - operating in Mars orbit
2003 Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit on Mars, softlanded January 4, 2004 (UT) - Opportunity on Mars, softlanded January 25, 2004 (UT) - both operating on Mars surface
Mars Express - arrived December 25, 2003 - operating in Mars orbit
2001 Mars Odyssey - operating in Mars Mapping Orbit - images - latest

Observing Alerts and New Mars Images (ALPO collection)

This page is also available in a more structured format

• Evidence for Recent Sources of Liquid Water on Mars:
  • Martian Gullies (MSSS)
  • space.com report on Water on Mars
  • APOD June 23, 2000 and June 26, 2000
• Mars Water Project (LPL)
• Life on Mars: Nasa announced evidence; in the Mars Meteorites found on Earth!
  • Mars Meteorite Compendium (JSC/Nasa)
• Launch Sequence of all historic Mars missions (and scheduled launch dates for future missions), with links to spacecraft images and webpages
• Mars Today: Current Appearance of and Weather on Mars
• Find Mars in the sky now (current finder chart)
• Mars Ephemeris (2007-2008) by Jeff Beish, A.L.P.O. Mars Section

• Mars Basic Data (under construction)
• Mars Oppositions
• Mars 2003 - record opposition
• Mars 2005
• Mars Physical Ephemeris for 2005 and 2006, J.D. Beish (ALPO Mars Section)
• Mars 2007
• The 2007 Aphelic Apparition of Mars, by Jeffrey D. Beish and Donald C. Parker, Mars Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.)
• Mars 2010
• The 2009/2010 Aphelic Apparition of Mars, by Jeffrey D. Beish
• Mars Section of the ALPO
• Mars Observers: Yahoo group for telescopic Mars observers
• Mars map with nomenclature (ALPO, Mars Watch)
• The International MarsWatch 2007 - images
  MarsWatch 2005 - MarsWatch 2003 - MarsWatch 2001 - MarsWatch 1999 - MarsWatch 1996-7 - MarsWatch 1994-5
• MarsWatch Home by Jim Bell
• Amateur images of Mars, including:
  • Antonio Cidadao's Mars Observations (also check various links in Antonio's homepage)
  • Jack Schmidling's Mars photos
  • Bobby Middleton's Mars images (within his planetary image gallery)
• Hubble Space Telescope images of Mars
• Chandra CXO X-ray image of Mars - Nasa MSFC Photo Release 02-284 (Nov 8, 2002)
• The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery, by William Sheehan. Online book, University of Arizona Press. Mars Oppositions 1901-2035
• Center for Mars Exploration (Nasa Ames; really cool stuff); Mars Landing Site list
• Nasa Exploring Mars - infos on future Mars exploration
• Ralph Aeschliman's new maps of Mars, made from USGS Viking and MOLA data
• Live from Mars (ARC/Nasa)
• Mars Mission Research Center (NCSU): Research for a Manned Mars Mission
• Martian Chronicle at JPL
• Case For Mars VI Conference 1996 Homepage
• The Mars Society
• Romance and Reality: Moon and Mars expedition and settlement plans
• Dead Link! Mission: Mars: Engineering toward a crewed Mars mission, articles (Bill H. Clark II)
• A Crewed Mission to Mars ... Scenario (NSSDC)
• Stanford International Manned Mars Mission (text in various formats). Also look at Illustrations for this project and other Mars related artwork, from the SEDS Space Art archive
• Mars Online Conference
• Volcanism on Mars (Volcano World)
• Terraforming Mars, informations by Christopher Burger
• Mars face: A nice landform on Mars. Marsface homepage at Malin Space Systems
• Percival Lowell's Original "Mars" book from 1895
• Alfred R. Wallace' Is Mars Habitable? from 1907; a critical examination on Lowell's "Mars". From The Alfred Russel Wallace Page by Charles H. Smith
• Mars in Science Fiction Bibliography
• Shallow Sky's Mars FAQ and links - Mars Observer's FAQ
• Mars page of The Nine Planets multimedia tour of Bill Arnett
• JPL's Welcome to the Planets Mars page
• Mars info from the U.S. Goelogical Survey
• Exploring the Planets Mars page (NASM)
• Stardate Solar System Guide's Mars page
• ASU TES Solar System Tour Mars page; Planet MARS Internet Links
• Mars homepage and Factsheet (NSSDC)
• Photogallery of Mars (NSSDC)
• Mars Atlas home page
• Mars Exploration Program (JPL; includes mirror index)
• Mars System Query page, Nasa's Planetary Photojournal
• Mars edition of the ASP's "Universe in the Classroom" Newsletter for Teachers (No. 9)
• Mars Millennium Project - a National Arts, Sciences, Technology Education Initiative
• The Whole Mars Catalog (astrobiology.com)
• West to Mars: Journey through the possibilities. An appealing peace of art by Ken Fair of Mars West Collaborative Project Organization.
• Explore Mars page (LPI, JSC, Nasa)
• JSC's Lunar and Planetary Institute offers the following slide sets (and image galleries) on Mars. These are powerful educational tools, and can also be purchased as 35mm slide sets at low prices from LPI (look at their online educational resources and price information).
  • The Red Planet, Mars Survey (including SNC meteorites); The Red Planet: A Survey of Mars - Second Edition (1997)
  • Winds, Aeolian landforms on Mars
  • Stones, Mars craters
  • Mars Volcanoes
  • Ancient Life on Mars ?
• Mars News and Mars Link Directory from Universe Today
• Mars Mission News (JPL; 1998)
• Mars image collection (SEDS ftp server); HTML interface

Mars Missions

• Launch Sequence of all historic Mars missions (and scheduled launch dates for future missions), with links to spacecraft images and webpages

• ON MARS - Exploration of the Red Planet 1958-1978 - NASA SP-4212 Edward Clinton Ezell & Linda Neuman Ezell - The NASA History Series - Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1984. NASA, W DC
• Mariner 4, first successful spacecraft to Mars in 1964: Mariner IV - First Flyby of Mars, some personal experiences. By Bill Momsen.
• Mariner 9, first Mars orbiter in 1971, mapped the whole planet: Mariner 9 image browser (Peter Masek)
• Viking 1 & 2 spacecraft: Most successful Orbiter-Lander pairs, lauched August/September 1975 and operated in Mars orbit and on Mars surface since mid-1976. Viking info, images and links at SEDS; Viking homepage at Nasa's NSSDC; Viking homepage at NASM; Viking 1 & 2 info at JPL;
  • Viking Orbiter images at Malin Space Science Systems;
  • Viking lander images (JPL); Viking lander images from NASM; Viking Lander images at Malin Space Science Systems
• Mars Observer spacecraft: Launched September 1992, this spacecraft got lost on Mars Orbit Insertion in August 1993. Images and information collected at SEDS; Images from its interplanetary cruise at Malin Space Science Systems

  
  

• Mars Global Surveyor Mars orbiter, launched from KSC, Cape Canaveral on November 7, 1996, 9 a.m. EST. Reached Mars and successfully entered Mars orbit on September 11, 1997; used aerobraking for achieving the low Mars orbit required for the intended orbital investigations of the Red Planet, which began in early 1998. For almost a decade, the spacecraft undertook a most successful mission to survey Mars from orbit, with instruments constructed for the lost Mars Observer, and has provided numerous high-resolution images and valuable data of the Martian surface and atmosphere. Moreover, it has served as relay for the lander missions Mars Pathfinder, had been intended to supplement unlucky Mars 96, and has provided photographic support for the lander missions since, namely unlucky Mars Polar Lander in 1998-1999, and the successful Mars Exploration Rovers in 2003-2006. Eventually, contact to Mars Global Surveyor was lost, probably due to erroneous command sequence, on November 5, 2006, just two days before the 10-year anniversary of the spacecraft's launch.
  • MGS information, images and links from SEDS
  • MGS Homepage at JPL
  • MGS images at JPL
  • MGS homepage at Malin Space Science Systems
• Russian Mars 96 (previously Mars 94) was launched on November 16, 1996, but failed to leave Earth's orbit, and decayed shortly after liftoff.
  • CNN story
  
  
• Mars Pathfinder (MPF) (previously named "MESUR" or "Pathfinder", after landing renamed Carl Sagan Memorial Station) and its rover Sojourner (previously Rocky IV, also MFEX rover): Successful little Mars lander, lauched December 1996, operated in summer 1997.
  • MPF information, images and links from SEDS
  • Mars Pathfinder homepage (JPL)
  • Sojourner Rover homepage
• Japan's Nozomi (for Hope; former Planet B) Mars orbiter was successfully launched on July 4, 1998 with a M-V-3 rocket, and flew 2 Lunar swingbys on September 24 and on December 18, 1998, and one Earth swingby on December 20, 1998. It was scheduled to arrive at Mars on October 11, 1999, but due to a problem in its propulsion system, got "insufficient acceleration" in its Earth flyby and consequent course correction. A new orbit was calculated, and after two more Earth swingbys on December 20, 2002 and June 19, 2003 and a delay of more than four years, arrived in the neighborhood of Mars in December 2003 with a re-scheduled orbital insertion in January 2004. Unfortunately, a correction maneuver in December 2003 failed so that the mission had to be abandoned. It was to study Mars' upper atmosphere. Planet-B image [158k gif]; Nozomi information, images and links from SEDS
  
• Mars Climate Orbiter (previously named Mars Surveyor 1998 Orbiter): Launched December 1998, this spacecraft got lost on Mars Orbit Insertion.
  • MCO information, images and links from SEDS
  • Mars Climate Orbiter (NSSDC info)
  • Mars Surveyor 1998 homepage (JPL)
  • Mars Surveyor 98 page (Malin Space Science Systems)
  
  
• Mars Polar Lander (former Mars Surveyor 1998 Lander or Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS)): Launched January 1999, this spacecraft got lost during descent to Mars surface.
  • MPL information, images, and links from SEDS
  • Mars Surveyor 1998 Lander (NSSDC info)
  • MPL homepage (JPL)
  • Mars Surveyor 98 page (Malin Space Systems)
  Mars Polar Lander carried two small penetrators, Deep Space-2 (also got lost during descent):
  • Deep Space 2 (New Millennium Project)
  • NSSDC's Deep Space 2 info
  • DS-2 homepage
  
  

• Rosetta: Once intended as ESA's Mars, Asteroid and Comet mission, and scheduled to be launched in January, 2003 by Ariane 5. To achieve its more distant targets, it was to take a gravity assist during Mars flyby on August 25, 2006. It would fly on and pass Earth twice and two asteroids each once, before it had reached Comet Wirtanen in August 2011, and finally landed on it one year later.
  Now, Rosetta was successfully launched on March 2, 2004, and deployed its solar panels soon after launch. After a first Earth gravity assist on March 4, 2005, fly by Mars on February 2, 2007 for gravity assist acceleration, followed by two further Earth gravity assist flybys in November 2007 and November 2009. It should reach Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May 2014, start global mapping of that comet in August 2014 and deliver a landerm Philia, in November 2014. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will pass its perihelion in August 2015, Rosetta is intended to continue investigating the comet until December 2015.
  • Rosetta homepage at ESOC/ESA
  • Rosetta informations (NSSDC)

• Phoenix (NASA). An in-situ volatile and organic molecule survey (LPL/Univ of Arizona). Successfully launched on August 4, 2007, successfully softlanded on Mars on May 25, 2008.
  • Phoenix informations, images and links from SEDS;
  • UA Press Release, December 6, 2002;
  • Phoenix homepage (LPL, University of Arizona);
  • Phoenix info (JPL);
  • Phoenix informations (NSSDC)
  • Scout Mission Press Release (Nasa HQ PR 01-122, June 13, 2001);
  • Nasa Press Release 02-238 of Dec 6, 2002;
  • Solar System Exploration: Missions: Mars: Mars Scout (JPL);
  • Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)

• Dawn (Nasa). An asteroid mission to asteroids Vesta and Ceres, which is to fly-by Mars for gravity assist. Successfully launched on September 27, 2007. The Dawn spacecraft had a successful fly-by of Mars for gravity assist on February 17, 2009, and took some images and measurements. It is to continue its journey to asteroids Vesta (to be reached 2011 and 2012) and Ceres (2015). Dawn Mission News on Mars Flyby (Nasa, February 19, 2009); Dawn Spacecraft View of Mars (JPL, February 20, 2009); Planetary Science Institute PR. Dawn Homepage (JPL); Dawn Missin Page (Nasa); Dawn informations (NSSDC)

Launched 2001:

• 2001 Mars Odyssee, Mars Surveyor 2001 orbiter was successfully launched on April 7, 2001 from Cape Canaveral with a Delta II rocket, arrived at Mars after an over 6 month interplanetary cruise, and was successfully inserted into Mars orbit on October 24, 2001 (see Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) information). The spacecraft has now entered the phase of aerobraking in order to lower its initial highly-excentric orbit. It is intended to test aerocapture techniques (down to 120 km above Martian surface !) for achieving its circular 400 km Polar orbit after periapsis lifts. If this goes well, it will conduct science from orbit, its primary science mission covering the time of January, 2002 through July, 2004. This Mars orbiter mission is to perform the research originally scheduled for the lost Mars Climate Orbiter (Mars Surveyor 1998 Orbiter), i.e., Mars wheather and climate. Scientific investigations will be including mineralogical mapping and radiation measurements, with its main instruments GRS (Gamma Ray Spectrometer) from Mars Observer, THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) which is developed under the direction of ASU, and MARIE (Mars Radiation Environment Experiment). The spacecraft is also to serve as communications relay for future Mars landers.
  • 2001 Mars Odyssey informations, images and links from SEDS
  • NSSDC info on the 2001 Mars Odyssee (Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter)
  • 2001 Mars Odyssey (Mars Surveyor 2001) homepage at JPL

• Mars Express (ESA). Launched on June 2, 2003 with a Russian Soyuz/Fregat rocket. Orbiter and lander "Beagle 2". After a journey of almost 6 months, the spacecraft came near Mars in December 2003, and succesfully released the Beagle 2 lander on December 19. The orbiter was successfully inserted into Martian orbit on December 25, 2003, shortly before the lander entered the Martian atmosphere and reached the Martian surface in Isidis Regio. While the orbiter mission is working successfully, unfortunately, the lander could not be contacted after landing despite intensive efforts for several weeks to establish communication or clear up the lander's state, and is believed and declared lost in late January 2004. The Mars Express orbiter started its scientific mission and is busily taking photographs and data from its orbit around Mars.
  • Mars Express informations, images and links from SEDS
  • Mars Express Homepage (ESA)
  • Beagle 2 lander homepage (Open University)
  • Mars Express info (NSSDC)
  • Mars: Missions - Mars Express (JPL).
  
  

• Spirit, 2003 Mars Exploration Rover 2, MER-2, Mars Exploration Rover A, MER-A, Mars Surveyor 2003 Lander/Rover A: First of two Nasa sister spacecraft (the other is Mars Surveyor 2003 Lander/Rover 1 or B), successfully launched on June 10, 2003, with a Delta 2 (7425). After an interplanetary cruise of almost 6 months and 303 million km (189 million miles), the spacecraft arrived at Mars and successfully touched down on January 4, 2004, 4:35 UT (January 3, 9:35 p.m. MST) in Gusev crater. The softlanding was performed in direct approach and airbag-buffered, similar to the Mars Pathfinder of 1996. The rover is currently investigating the landing site region, and should last for at least 90 days. Its activities include the photographical study the landscape, and the investigation of samples samples from a 10 km range around the landing site, picked up with a sampling arm.
  • 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers, informations, images and links from SEDS - Spirit on Mars images
  • 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers and Mars Rovers Homepage (JPL)
  • Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)
  • Spirit (Mars Exploration Rover A, MER-A) informations (NSSDC)
  • 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (JPL)
  • Athena Rover homepage (Cornell University)

• Opportunity, 2003 Mars Exploration Rover 1, MER-1, Mars Exploration Rover B, MER-B, Mars Surveyor 2003 Lander/Rover B: Nasa successfully launched this second of two sister spacecraft (the other is Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 2 or A) on July 7, 2003, with a Delta 2 (7425). After an interplanetary cruise of more than 6 months, Opportunity reached Red Planet Mars, and a successful softlanding occurred on January 25, 2004, 5:05 UT (January 24, 10:05 p.m. MST) in the Meridiani Terra region. As for its sister craft, the landing was performed using an airbag system, similar to Mars Pathfinder of 1996. The rover has started to investigate the landing site region, and is scheduled to continue to do so for at least 90 days. Its activities should include the photographical study the landing site, and investigation of samples from a 10 km range around the landing site, picked up with a sampling arm.
  • 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers, informations, images and links from SEDS - Opportunity on Mars images
  • 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers Homepage (JPL)
  • Opportunity (Mars Exploration Rover B, MER-B) informations (NSSDC)
  
  

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Surveyor 2005 Orbiter (France). Successfully launched on August 12, 2005 by an Atlas V rocket. Arrive at Mars on March 10, 2006, successfully entered a highly excentric Mars orbit, now in aerobraking phase until about November 2006. To study Mars from orbit during its science mission from November 2006 to November 2008, perform high-resolution measurements including images with a resolution of 20 to 30 cm, and possibly serve as communications relay for later Mars landers until about February 2010.
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter informations, images and links from SEDS
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter homepage (JPL)
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter informations (NSSDC)
  • Solar System Exploration: Missions: Mars: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (JPL)
  • Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)
  • 2005 and Beyond (JPL)

• Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Mars Smart Lander, Mars 2011 Mobile Scientific Laboratory (Nasa), formerly scheduled for 2007 and 2009. To be launched in October 2011, land on Mars in late 2012, and perform a 2-year science mission. Will include new technologies: A small long-range, long-duration rover, powered by a small nuclear reactor, equipped to perform many scientific studies of Mars, and to demonstrate the technology for accurate landing and hazard avoidance in order to travel to difficult-to-reach sites. Mars Science Laboratory information, images and links from SEDS; Smart Lander page (JPL), Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC), 2005 and Beyond (JPL)

• Phobos-Grunt (Russia), scheduled for launch in late 2011, together with Chinese Ying Huo 1 on the same Zenit 3F rocket. Scheduled sample return mission to Martian moon Phobos. Originally scheduled for launch in late 2009.

• Ying Huo 1 (China), scheduled for launch in late 2011, together with Russian Phobos-Grunt. Originally scheduled for launch in late 2009.

• MAVEN (Nasa). Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission. Orbiter to explore the planet's upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. Set for launch in late 2013. MAVEN information, images and links from SEDS; MAVEN homepage at LASP (Laboratory for Atmosphericand Space Physics), University of Colorado at Boulder

• Mars Scout 2 (Nasa). A mission succeeding and extending the 2007 Mars Scout, Phoenix; details to be defined. Solar System Exploration: Missions: Mars: Scout 2 (JPL), Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC), 2005 and Beyond (JPL)

• Exo Mars (ESA). To be launched in 2011; formerly scheduled for 2009. Will include an orbiter and a descent module that will land a highly mobile rover, weighing up to 200 kilogrammes, on the surface of Mars.

• Mars 2014, Mars Sample Return Lander (Nasa, France, Italy, international?; former Mars 2011), under study for launch in early 2014. Possible first sample return mission. To arrive at Mars in late 2014, launch from Mars early 2015, and return to Earth in late 2016. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC), 2005 and Beyond (JPL)

• Mars 2016 (Nasa, international?; under study). Possibly another sample return mission, or orbiters, landers, rovers. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC), 2005 and Beyond (JPL)

• Mars 2007 Small Scout Missions (Nasa), tentatively scheduled for launch in December 2006, arrival at Mars February, 2009, science mission February to August, 2009. One or more of a series of small "scout" missions, including small landers, airplanes and balloons. Nasa Press Release 02-238 of Dec 6, 2002, Solar System Exploration: Missions: Mars: Mars Scout (JPL), Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC), 2005 and Beyond (JPL)
  The proposed missions selected for study are, besides the selected winner Phoenix:
  • SCIM: Sample Collection for the Investigation of Mars (ASU). ASU Press Release, Dec 6, 2002
  • ARES: Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (Nasa/Langley). A plane for the investigation of Mars and its atmosphere. Nasa Langley Press Release 02-090 of Dec 6, 2002
  • Marvel: Mars Volcanic Emission and Life Scout (JPL/Nasa). JPL Press Release of December 6, 2002

• Mars 2007 Remote Sensing Orbiter (CNES, French Space Agency), scheduled for launch in late 2007. Remote Sensing Orbiter. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)

• Mars 2007 Communications Orbiter (ASI, Italian Space Agency), scheduled for launch in late 2007. Communications orbiter for Netlanders and future missions. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)

• Mars 2007 Netlander (CNES, French Space Agency), formerly scheduled for launch with an Ariane 5 in late 2007, now postponed indefinitely. Network of 4 small landers to perform scientific measurements on the surface of Mars over one Martian year. Netlander homepage; Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC)

• Beagle 2: Evolution (ESA), scheduled for launch in late 2009. Mars Lander.

For the time after 2016, a continuation of the research missions is planned. Detailed plans are still to be worked out, and should utilize the newly acquired knowledge of the current and scheduled Mars missions. Nasa officials have expressed their intention that these efforts should eventually be leading to a Mars mission with a human crew to be launched in 2018 (and to arrive at Mars in 2019), and to begin an era of permanent human presence on our neighbor planet. Moreover, this date is continuously under discussion with the aim to do the mission sooner (The earliest (now outdated) proposition was a crewed mission as early as 2007, while CNN has reported plans for a crewed mission in 2012 !)

The new vision presented by the President of the United States in January, 2004 proposes a crewed Mars mission following the establishment of a permanantly crewed Moon base which should be built between 2015 and 2020, after completing the assembly of the International Space Station and the development of a new space transportation system in about 2010. In the scenario of this plan, a crewed Mars mission could occur in or after the year 2019.

Comments, corrections, and propositions to this page are welcome ! Contact me !

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Last Modification: October 20, 2009