Timeline Mars
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Mars circles the Sun in an
elliptical orbit that averages 141.6 miles in radius. Its diameter
is 4,200 miles.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A9)
If the Sun were a pumpkin one foot in diameter, Mars would be a
little raisin about 175 feet away.
   (SFEC, 4/30/00, Par p.9)
   The largest mountain on Mars, Olympus Mons, is
65,000 (71,564) feet high. Ascreus Montes was later measured to be
74,226 feet. Phobos (fear) and Deimos (anxiety) are the moons of
Mars. Its radius is 2,113 miles and its suspected iron core was
between 800-1,247 miles in radius.
   (NH, 3/97, p.68,70)(SFC, 3/21/97, p.A6)(SFC,
10/9/97, p.A10)
4.6Bil BP-3.8Bil
BPÂ Â Â In 2008 scientists reported that water was
abundant on Mars during this period.
   (SFC, 7/17/08, p.A2)
4.6Bil BP-3.5Bil BPÂ Â Â This represents the Noachian
period on Mars.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A4)
4.5Bil BPÂ Â Â Molten rock on Mars crystallized. The
Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, found in Antarctica in 1984, was
analyzed to this age.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A9)(SFC, 11/1/96, p.A16)
4.4Bil BC-4.1Bil BCÂ Â Â Spectrometer mappings by the
Mars Express, launched in 2003 by the European Space Agency (ESA),
identified a clay forming period on Mars that dated to this period.
   (Econ, 4/22/06, p.76)
4Bil BC-3.5Bil BCÂ Â Â Volcanic activity on Mars began
during this period and lasted a few hundred million years. Sulphur
rich gases transformed the planet into a very acidic environment.
   (Econ, 4/22/06, p.77)
3.9Bil BCÂ Â Â Meteorites reached Earth after being
ejected from the Moon from the impact of massive unknown objects at
about this time.
   (SFC, 12/1/00, p.A21)
3.9Bil BCÂ Â Â Astronomers in 2008 reported that a
giant meteorite crashed into Mars about this time and created a huge
elliptical scar in the northern lowlands.
   (SFC, 6/26/08, p.A4)
3.6Bil BCÂ Â Â Carbonate minerals formed on Mars. Mars
was warm enough and hospitable enough to support life if it existed.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A9)(SFC, 9/1/96, p.A22)
3.5Bil BCÂ Â Â A huge object crashed into Mars about
this time gouging out a crater and causing ground water to rise and
transform crustal calcium and sulfur into gypsum. In 2011 the robot
rover Opportunity discovered the gypsum indicating the presence of
water.
   (SFC, 12/8/11, p.A16)
3.5Bil BCÂ Â Â In 2013 NASA’s Curiosity rover uncovered
signs that a lake existed about this time at the Martian equator.
   (SFC, 12/10/13, p.A6)
 2.1Bil BC   A meteorite, dubbed NWA
7034, blasted to Earth from Mars about this time and landed in the
Sahara Desert. Analysis in 2012 revealed that it contained water.
   (SFC, 1/4/13, p.A7)
1.5Bil BP-1Bil BPÂ Â Â On Mars this is the Hesperian
period when surface waters had dried up but still lay in large
quantities below the surface.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A4)
175 Million   The EETA 79001 meteorite was estimated
to be this age and blasted from Mars into space about 600,000 years
ago.
   (SFC, 11/1/96, p.A16)
16 Mil BCÂ Â Â A huge asteroid hit Mars and blasted
rock into space about this time. The 1984 meteorite labeled Allan
Hills (ALH) 84001 was knocked into space and landed in Antarctica
around 11,000BC.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A9)(WSJ, 8/7/96, p.A1)(SSFC,
2/19/06, p.M6)
3.9 Million BP Some time before this the hot dynamo core cooled and
died. The magnetic core left broad bands of magnetism 20 miles wide
and over 1,600 miles long that were discovered by the Mars Global
Explorer in 1999.
   (SFC, 4/29/99, p.A6)
600,000BCÂ Â Â The EETA 79001 meteorite was blasted
from Mars about this time and contained evidence of "microbial
produced methane." Its formation was dated to about 175 million
years ago.
   (SFC, 11/1/96, p.A16)
11,000 BCÂ Â Â Martian meteorites landed in Antarctica.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A9)
1345Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, A conjunction of
Saturn, Jupiter and Mars was thought to be the "cause of plague
epidemic."
   (MC, 3/20/02)
1609Â Â Â Â Â Â Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630), German astronomer and mathematician, authored
“Astronomia Nova.” Written in 1605, but not published until 1609, it
discussed how Mars moves in an elliptical orbit.
   (SFC, 10/25/99, p.A4)(Econ, 8/15/09,
p.75)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler)
1610Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, The astronomer
Galileo Galilei sighted four of Jupiter's moons. Galileo discovered
the 1st 3 Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa & Ganymede. He
discovered mountains and valleys on the moon, that Jupiter has a
moon of its own, and that the sun has spots which change. Galileo
discovered multiple moons around Jupiter. He also observed Mars.
   (V.D.-H.K.p.200)(SFC, 11/5/96, p.A4)(SFC,
11/29/96, p.A16)(AP, 1/7/98)(MC, 1/7/02)
1642Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Christian Huygens
discovered the Martian south polar cap.
   (MC, 8/13/02)
1842Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Camille
Flammarion, Mars researcher and popularizer of astronomy, was born.
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1666Â Â Â Â Â Â Giovanni Domenico Cassini
(1625-1712), Italian-born French astronomer, discovered one of the
polar ice caps of Mars.
  Â
(www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/C/CassiniG.html)
1672Â Â Â Â Â Â Christian Huygens of
Holland discovered the southern polar caps on Mars.
  Â
(http://chapters.marssociety.org/toronto/Education/TL1500.shtml)
1877Â Â Â Â Â Â The Italian astronomer,
Giovanni Schiaparelli, saw long thin lines on the surface of Mars
and called them canali. The term was translated into English as
canals.
   (Smith., 8/95, p.71)
1877Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, Asaph Hall
discovered the Mars moon Phobos. Hall of the US Naval Observatory
discovered the moons around Mars and named them Deimos (anxiety) and
Phobos (fear), Homer’s names for the attendant’s of the god of war.
   (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A16)(SFEC, 4/30/00, Z1 p.6)(SC,
8/17/02)
1892Â Â Â Â Â Â Camille Flammarion of
France explained the changing brightness of features on Mars to
seasonal changes of yellow vegetation and shallow seas.
   (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A16)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â Percival Lowell
(1855-1916), American astronomer, built a private observatory in
Flagstaff, Arizona and commenced a decade long series of
observations with emphasis on Mars. He "confirmed" water filled
canals and proclaimed Mars the home of an advanced civilization.
   (Smith., 8/95, p.72)(SFC, 11/29/96,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â W.W. Campbell and Edward
Barnard of Lick Observatory in California detected no water vapor on
Mars and said that the canals were optical illusions.
   (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A16)
1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Percival Lowell,
astronomer, published "Mars and Its Canals."
   (NH, 10/96, p.74)(NH, 12/96, p.22)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, The WSJ reported
on the photographs of Mars by Dr. Lowell at the Lowell Observatory
in Arizona. Lowell identified markings in the photos as evidence of
great canals constructed for irrigation.
   (WSJ, 12/8/97, p.B1)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â Alfred Russel Wallace
wrote his book "Is Mars Habitable."
   (NH, 12/96, p.28)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â Percival Lowell published
the results of his observations of Mars titled: "Mars as the Abode
of Life." He recorded no fewer than 180 canals.
   (Smith., 8/95, p.72)(NH, 10/96, p.74)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Wernher von Braun, German
rocket physicist, authored “Das Marsproject” (The Mars Project), a
technical specification for a manned mission to Mars.
   (Econ, 6/1/13, p.77)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Werner von Braun authored
"The Exploration of Mars." It was illustrated by Chesley Bonestell.
   (WSJ, 5/1/01, p.A24)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Sun, Moon, Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn aligned within a 16 degree arc.
   (MC, 2/5/02)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Mariner I,
launched to Mars, fell into the Atlantic Ocean.
   (SC, 7/28/02)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, The Mariner 3 was
launched. It failed to reach a trajectory around Mars and ended up
in distant orbit around the sun.
   (SFC, 12/8/99, p.A19)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, The US Mariner IV
space probe was launched from Cape Kennedy on a course to Mars. It
later flew by Mars in Jul 1965 and saw craters but no canals.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)(AP, 11/28/97)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, The American space
probe Mariner 4 flew by Mars and sent back 22 photographs of the
planet. These were the 1st images of Mars taken from a spacecraft.
   (AP, 7/14/97)(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A19)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, US scientists
displayed close-up photographs of the planet Mars taken by "Mariner
Four." It passed over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet.
   (AP, 7/15/00)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, The U.S. space
probe Mariner 7 flew by Mars, sending back photographs and
scientific data. It returned 127 images of the South Polar icecap
and southern hemisphere. Mariner 6 also flew past Mars this year and
returned 75 images of the Martian equator along with the surface
temperature, atmospheric pressure and composition.
   (AP, 8/5/97)(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A19)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, The Russian Mars 2
Orbiter and Lander made it to Mars but the Lander crashed when
braking rockets failed. The orbiter returned late until 1972.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, The Russian Mars 3
Orbiter and Lander was launched successfully.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, The American space
probe Mariner 9, the first satellite to orbit Mars, blasted off from
Cape Kennedy, Fla. It later transmitted photos of dust storms and
possible riverbeds.
   (AP, 5/30/97)(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)(HN,
5/30/98)(SFC, 5/20/99, p.A2)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The U.S. space
probe Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars. NASA's Mariner 9
circled Mars and revealed dried beds of rivers that flowed billions
of years ago.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A9)(TMC, 1994, p.1971)(AP,
11/13/01)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, The Mars 3 landed
on Mars and failed after 20 seconds of video data. The orbiter
returned data until August 1972.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â The Mars bound Mariner 8
failed during launch.
   (SFC, 12/8/99, p.A19)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, The Russian Mars 4
Orbiter braking engine malfunctioned and it failed to go into orbit
around Mars.
   (SFC, 11/19/96,
p.B1)(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1973-047A)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Russia launched
its Mars 5 Orbiter.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1973-049A)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, Russia launched its
Mars 6 Orbiter.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1973-052A)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, The Russian Mars 7
Orbiter and lander failed to go into orbit around Mars. The lander
missed the planet and both went into solar orbit.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, The Russian Mars 5
Orbiter entered orbit around Mars and relayed imaging data for the
Mars 6 & 7 missions.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, The Russian Mars 6
went into orbit and the lander transmitted atmospheric data during
descent before failing.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Viking 1, the
first of 2 unmanned Viking landers, was launched from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to Mars. It reached Mars in the
summer of 1976.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, The US Viking 1
went into Martian orbit after a 10-month flight from earth.
  Â
(www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/Mars/exploration.html)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Viking I robot
spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars and began
taking soil samples.
   (AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Scientists in
Pasadena, Calif., announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found
the strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, The unmanned U.S.
spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars to take the first close-up, color
photographs of the planet's surface.
   (AP, 9/3/97)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, The Viking 2
Orbiter to Mars was powered down after 706 orbits.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, NASA’s Viking 2
Mars Lander ended communications.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, The Viking 1 Mars
Orbiter was powered down after over 1400 orbits.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â The Planetary Society was
founded by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, as a space
advocacy group. The Society is dedicated to the exploration of Mars
and the rest of the Solar System, the search for Near Earth Objects,
and the search for extraterrestrial life.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planetary_Society)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The Viking 1 Mars
Lander ended communications. The 2 Viking Landers transmitted over
1400 images. Many of these images are also available from NSSDC
online and as photographic products.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â The results from the
Viking experiments give our most complete view of Mars to date.
Volcanoes, lava plains, immense canyons, cratered areas, wind-formed
features, and evidence of surface water are apparent in the Orbiter
images. The planet appears to be divisible into two main regions,
northern low plains and southern cratered highlands. Superimposed on
these regions are the Tharsis and Elysium bulges, which are
high-standing volcanic areas, and Valles Marineris, a system of
giant canyons near the equator. The surface material at both landing
sites can best be characterized as iron-rich clay. Measured
temperatures at the landing sites ranged from 150 to 250 K, with a
variation over a given day of 35 to 50 K. Seasonal dust storms,
pressure changes, and transport of atmospheric gases between the
polar caps were observed. The biology experiment produced no
evidence of life at either landing site.
  Â
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html)
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, Geologist Roberta
Score found the Martian meteorite labeled Allan Hills (ALH) 84001
while snowmobiling in the Antarctic. The 4.5 billion year old rock
was knocked of Mars by an asteroid some 16 million years earlier and
landed in Antarctica some 13,000 years before Score’s find.
   (PacDis, Winter ’97, p.29)(SSFC, 2/19/06, p.M5)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, The PHOBOS 2 Flyby
and lander failed within 480 miles of Mar’s moon Phobos.
   (SFC, 11/19/96, p.B1)
1992      Sep 25, The Mars
Observer blasted off on a $980 million mission to the red planet.
The probe disappeared just before entering Martian orbit in August
1993.
   (AP, 9/25/97)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In a serious
setback for NASA, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer
spacecraft on a $980 million mission. Its fate remains unknown.
   (AP, 8/21/98)(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A19)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, NASA engineers
continued trying, without success, to re-establish contact with the
Mars Observer, a day after losing contact.
   (AP, 8/22/98)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, NASA’s Mars
Observer, which was supposed to map the surface of Mars, was
declared lost.
   (HN, 8/24/99)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, NASA scientists
presented evidence that a meteorite from Mars (ALH 84001) that was
found in Antarctica in 1984 contained organic minerals such as
carbonate globules, magnetite, iron sulfide and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons. In 2001 Imre Friedmann (1921-2007), extreme
microbiologist, led a team of researchers to study the same
meteorite and claimed conclusive evidence that Mars had been teeming
with life 3.5 billion years ago.
   (SFC, 8/8/96, p.A6)(Econ, 6/30/07, p.96)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, NASA researchers
formally presented their case for the existence of life long ago on
Mars. [see Aug 6]
   (AP, 8/7/01)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Photos taken of
Mars that indicated a huge dust storm near the north pole that was
active for months.
   (SFC, 11/5/96, p.A4)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, NASA’s Mars Global
Surveyor was scheduled for launch. It was supposed to arrive at Mars
in Sep, 1997.
   (SFC, 8/8/96, p.A6)(SFC, 11/5/96, p.A4)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, The Mars Pathfinder
[delayed from Dec 2] was launched from Cape Canaveral on a 310
million-mile odyssey to explore the planet's surface. It had a
remote-controlled 22-pound, 6-wheel, roving vehicle to sample
Martian soil and rock and send data back beginning on Jul 4, 1997.
   (SFC, 8/8/96,p.A6)(SFC, 11/5/96, p.A4)(SFC,
12/4/96, p.A4)(AP, 12/4/97)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Robert Zubrin authored
“The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We
Must.”
   (WSJ, 12/22/08, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, The Mars Pathfinder
landed and began to broadcast pictures of the red rocky landscape.
The landing site was later named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, The rover Sojourner
began mankind’s first mobile exploration of Mars. The first rock
targeted for examination was named "Barnacle Bill."
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, The $250 million
Mars Global Surveyor, scheduled to arrive for its 2 year mapping
mission, successfully went into orbit around Mars.
   (USAT, 8/29/97, p.12A)(SFC, 9/10/97, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, Scientists at JPL
announced that the Global Surveyor had found the planet to be
littered with small but powerful magnetic forces, probably the
remnants of an ancient field frozen into the rock surface.
   (SFC, 10/3/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, The last signal
from the Pathfinder was received.
   (WSJ, 10/31/97, p.A20)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, The first photos
of Phobos from the Mars Global Surveyor were reported. Its diameter
is 16 miles at the equator and 11 miles pole to pole. Deimos
measured 7 miles in diameter.
   (SFC, 9/16/98, p.A9)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, The Mars Climate
Orbiter blasted off on a 9 ½ month journey to the Red Planet. The
probe disappeared in September 1999, apparently destroyed because
scientists had failed to convert English measures to metric values.
   (SFC, 12/11/98, p.D6)(SFC, 12/12/98, p.A10)(AP,
12/11/99)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The Mars Polar
Lander was launched. Landing was scheduled for Dec 3 with probes
designed to burrow 3 feet into the Mars surface.
   (SFC, 12/11/98, p.D6)(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, The Deep Space 2
probe was to be launched. It will carry a basketball-size shell to
Mars with a lipstick-size microprobe that will drill 6 feet into the
soil to test for water.
   (USAT, 8/29/97, p.12A)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, It was reported
that the Hellas crater, 6 miles deep and 1,500 miles across, was
created early in the history of Mars.
   (SFC, 5/28/99, p.A5)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, The $125 million
Mars Climate Orbiter was presumed lost after it hit the Martian
atmosphere. The crash was later blamed on navigation confusion due
to 2 teams using conflicting English and metric units.
   (SFC, 9/24/99, p.A1)(SFC, 10/1/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, The Mars Polar
Lander touched down at the Martian South Pole. 2 probes burrowed
into the polar surface to test for water and carbon dioxide. NASA
failed to make contact with the $165 million lander following
setdown.
   (SFC, 1/4/99, p.A2)(SFC, 12/3/99, p.A3)(SFC,
12/4/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Daniel S. Goldin,
NASA administrator, acknowledged the failure of the Mars Polar
Lander and planned to appoint an independent committee of experts to
examine the Mars program. In 2000 it was determined that a computer
signal was misread and caused breaking to stop at 130 feet above the
surface.
   (SFC, 12/8/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/29/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, The Deep Space I
probe was expected to approach Mars.
   (SFC, 8/28/97, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Scientists reported
that the Mars Global Surveyor picked up images of sedimentary rocks.
   (SFC, 12/5/00, p.A6)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, Geologist Marc Hauser
found a meteorite from Mars in the Oman desert. It was named Sayh al
Uhaymir 094 for the region where it was found.
   (SFC, 6/16/01, p.A2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, The $297 million
Mars Odyssey was launched and expected to arrive near Mars on Oct
24. A 2-year orbit to map the planet’s chemistry and minerals was
planned.
   (SFC, 4/7/01, p.A2)(SSFC, 4/8/01, p.A13)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, The $297 million
Mars Odyssey spacecraft entered into a stable orbit following a
6-month voyage.
   (SFC, 10/23/01, p.A13)(SFC, 10/24/01, p.C4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â A US Mars ‘01 orbiter and
lander was to survey the Martian surface.
   (SFEC, 5/25/97, p.12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â A Russian Mars ‘01 mission
was planned for Mars.
   (SFEC, 5/25/97, p.12)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, It was reported
that NASA succeeded in using the Mars atmosphere to brake the
Odyssey probe and that observations should commence in Feb.
   (WSJ, 1/14/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, NASA scientists
said that vast ice fields had been detected under the surface of
Mars with a gamma ray spectrometer on the Odyssey orbiter
   (SFC, 3/2/02, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, NASA released the
1st photo of Earth taken from Mars, 86 million miles away. The
record distance was a 1990 shot by Voyager 1 from 4 billion miles.
   (WSJ, 5/23/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, Europe's space
agency launched a mars probe from Kazakhstan.
   (WSJ, 6/3/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, NASA launched a
Mars Exploration Rover named Spirit, the 1st of 2. Spirit arrived on
Mars in January 2004.
   (WSJ, 6/11/03, p.A1)(SFC, 6/12/03, p.A1)(AP,
6/10/08)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, NASA's 2nd Mars
lander, named Opportunity, was launched.
   (SFC, 7/8/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Mars came within
34,646,437 miles of Earth, its closest in the past 60 millennia.
   (SFC, 8/27/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, The British Beagle
2 spacecraft landed on Mars. The 73-pound lander was launched by the
European Space Agency June 2. Contact with the Charles Darwin probe
was lost on Dec 26 after it separated from its European Space Agency
Mars Express mother ship on Dec 19. The mother ship went into orbit
for a planned 2 years of photography. In 2015 scientists found the
probe on the surface of Mars.
   (SFC, 12/25/03, p.A1)(SFC, 12/26/03, p.A2)(SFC,
12/27/03, p.A2)(AFP, 1/16/15)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The NASA spacecraft
Spirit landed on Mars at the Gusev Crater. It was the 4th successful
US landing on Mars.
   (SSFC, 1/4/04, p.A1)(USAT, 1/16/04, p.2A)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, The NASA Spirit
rover rolled onto the surface of Mars for the first time since the
vehicle bounced to a landing nearly two weeks earlier.
   (AP, 1/15/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, NASA said it lost
contact with the Mars spirit rover.
   (WSJ, 1/23/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, NASA's Opportunity
rover landed on Mars, arriving at the Red Planet exactly three weeks
after its identical twin's landing.
   (AP, 1/24/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, NASA's Opportunity
rover zipped its first pictures of Mars to Earth, delighting and
puzzling scientists just hours after the spacecraft bounced to a
landing on the opposite side of the red planet from its twin rover,
Spirit.
   (AP, 1/25/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, NASA’s Mars rover
Opportunity spied hints of a mineral that typically forms in water,
a finding that could mean Mars was once wetter and more hospitable
to life.
   (AP, 1/30/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, The Mars rover
Opportunity rolled off its landing pad onto the surface of Mars.
   (SSFC, 2/1/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, NASA restored
communications with the Mars Spirit rover.
   (SFC, 2/7/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, NASA scientists
reported that the Mars rover Opportunity had discovered evidence
that water was once present on the surface.
   (SFC, 3/03/04, p.A2)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Steve Squyres authored
“Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity and the Exploration of the Red
Planet.
   (SSFC, 8/7/05, p.C1)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â A US Mars Surveyor was
planned to scoop rocks and return them to Earth.
   (SFEC, 5/25/97, p.12)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, NASA lost contact
with the Mars Global Surveyor following a successful 10-year mapping
mission. Investigators in 2007 said a command sent to a wrong
computer address caused a cascade of events that led to loss of
power.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y8wtv3)(SFC, 4/14/07, p.A5)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, NASA scientists
reported evidence of water at 2 Martian craters.
   (SFC, 12/7/06, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Scientists said a
spacecraft orbiting Mars has scanned huge deposits of water ice at
its south pole so plentiful they would blanket the planet in 36 feet
of water if they were liquid.
   (Reuters, 3/15/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, NASA launched its
Phoenix Mars Lander, a robotic dirt and ice digger, scheduled to
land on Mars on May 25, 2008.
   (SSFC, 8/5/07, p.A10)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, NASA’s Phoenix
Mars Lander landed safely in the Vastitas Borealis area and began
sending images home after a 10-month, 422 million-mile journey. On
May 24, 2010, NASA declared the Phoenix lander officially dead.
   (AP, 5/26/08)(Econ, 5/31/08, p.83)(SFC, 5/25/10,
p.A4)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, NASA scientists
reported that the Mars Phoenix spacecraft had uncovered chunks of
ice.
   (SFC, 6/21/08, p.A2)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Scientists
reported that NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has discovered evidence of
past water at its Martian landing site and spotted falling snow for
the first time. Soil experiments revealed the presence of two
minerals known to be formed in liquid water. Scientists identified
the minerals as calcium carbonate, found in limestone and chalk, and
sheet silicate.
   (AP, 9/30/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, NASA ended the
Phoenix Mars mission. The lander last communicated on Nov 2 after
more than 5 months on the planet.
   (WSJ, 11/11/08, p.A1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, European ministers
pledged euro10 billion ($12.8 billion) to an ambitious list of 30
space missions, including one to put a robotic rover on Mars.
   (AP, 11/26/08)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Moscow, Russia,
the hatch slammed shut behind six volunteers from Europe and Russia
who will spend three months isolated in a capsule to simulate
conditions for a manned mission to Mars.
   (AFP, 3/31/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Russia 6 men
emerged from three months of isolation in Soviet-era metal tubes
after completing an experiment simulating a mission to Mars.
   (AP, 7/14/09)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, The radio of
Spirit, NASA’s Mars rover, fell silent. In 2011 engineers gave up
trying to re-establish contact.
   (SFC, 5/26/11, p.A10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, In Russia a male
crew of three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Colombian and a
Chinese began a 520-day experiment in a windowless capsule, to
simulate a 250-day journey to Mars, a 30-day surface exploration
phase and 240 days return trip.
   (AP, 6/2/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, President Obama
signed a major NASA act that turns his vision for US space
exploration of asteroids and Mars into law.
   (http://tinyurl.com/26w555z)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, A meteor shower
dropped rocks from Mars on the ground in Morocco. 15 pounds of the
rocks were found in December.
   (SFC, 1/18/12, p.A7)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, NASA scientists
said they have detected the first clear signs that water may be
flowing on Mars. Evidence came from the HiRISE camera aboard the
Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling Mars for 5 years.
   (SFC, 8/5/11, p.A11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, NASA said its Mars
rover Opportunity reached the rim of a 14-mile-wide crater where it
will examine rocks older than any it has seen in its 7 years on the
surface of the planet.
   (SFC, 8/11/11, p.A6)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, In Russia an
international crew of researchers walked out of a set of windowless
modules in Moscow after a grueling 520-day simulation of a flight to
Mars. The all-male crew consisted of three Russians, a Frenchman, an
Italian-Colombian and a Chinese.
   (AP, 11/4/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, A Russian space
probe aiming to land on a Mars moon was stuck circling the Earth
after equipment failure. Scientists raced to fire up its engines
before the whole thing came crashing down. The unmanned
Phobos-Ground craft was successfully launched by a Zenit-2 booster
rocket just after midnight. On Dec 2 the European Space Agency said
it had abandoned efforts to contact the probe.
   (AP, 11/9/11)(SFC, 12/3/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, NASA launched a
rover of "monster truck" proportions toward Mars on an 8½-month, 354
million-mile journey, the biggest, best equipped robot ever sent to
explore another planet. Curiosity will reach Mars next summer.
   (AP, 11/26/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, US scientists
reported strong evidence that water flowed on Mars some 3.5 billion
years ago. The evidence was based on the robot rover Opportunity
finding a vein of gypsum (calcium sulfate) on the rim of a crater.
   (SFC, 12/8/11, p.A1)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, NASA's Mars Science
Laboratory and Curiosity rover landed successfully on the Red
Planet.
   (AFP, 8/6/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, India’s PM
Manmohan Singh confirmed plans to launch a space probe that will
orbit Mars, after press reports that the mission was scheduled to
begin late next year.
   (AFP, 8/15/12)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Australian
astronomers discovered a comet named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring).
Scientists said it will pass about 50km from Mars on October 19,
2014. On Oct 19 the comet’s closest approach to Mars was about
140,000 km.
   (Econ, 3/9/13, p.80)(Econ, 10/25/14, p.82)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, On Mars the
Curiosity Rover drilled its first rock sample.
   (SSFC, 2/10/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, India launched its
first spacecraft bound for Mars.
   (AP, 11/5/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, NASA launched the
MAVEN spacecraft (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) atop an
Atlas V-41 rocket at Cape Canaveral.
   (SFC, 11/19/13, p.A7)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, The United Arab
Emirates announced it will create a space agency with the aim of
sending the first Arab unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.
   (AFP, 7/16/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, NASA’s Maven
spacecraft entered orbit around Mars to study the planet’s
atmosphere.
   (SFC, 9/23/14, p.A10)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, India won Asia's
race to Mars when its unmanned Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully
entered the Red Planet's orbit after a 10-month journey on a tiny
budget.
   (AFP, 9/24/14)
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