Mars Exploration Rovers Mission

They’ve discovered water on Mars. They’ve taken cool selfies of Mars. They’ve lasted more days, years actually, than what NASA expected. The Mars rovers have helped with many astronomers with the exploration of this planet. For example, the Curiosity rover has been doing its mission for almost 7 years and has found evidence of life on Mars. Another example is InSight rover. This rover will help determine the interior structure of Mars and if it has any seismic activity. Rovers have discovered many things for humanity and have made scientists understand Mars more; NASA should send more advanced rovers so humanity can uncover more secrets about Mars and find more ways for humanity to live on that planet.

History of Mars Exploration Rovers

Mars was discovered during the 1600s by an astronomer named Galileo Galilei. Since then, astronomers have been researching this planet. By the early 1960s-1970s, the USSR and the United States have tried sending many satellites for flyby missions of Mars but most failed due to exploding on Earth or on earth’s orbit. Finally, the Mariner 4 made the first-ever flyby of Mars. “The spacecraft launched on Nov. 28, 1964, and was the first to fly by Mars on July 14, 1965. It sent 21 photos of the Red Planet back to Earth” (Howell). After that, many more attempts were made from the USSR and the US. “Meanwhile, NASA sent two pairs of orbiters and landers toward Mars in 1975” (Howell). To add on, these two pairs were named Viking 1 and Viking 2. The landers then found that most of Mars’ dirt is composed of what earth’s dirt is composed of aswell.

Rovers in Modern Times

It is now 1996, the mars pathfinder mission has begun. The rockets were launched and are on their way to Mars. On 1997, the Mars Pathfinder lander and Sojourner have landed on Ares Vallis, Mars. According to NASA, the Sojourner rover was equipped with an alpha/proton/x-ray spectrometer, also known as an APXS and had cameras for the rover to send back images to NASA. Sojourner’s mission should’ve only lasted seven days but it went on to 76 more days then what NASA intended. Sojourner mission was spent by: “exploring the Martian terrain, snapping photographs and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements” (NASA). The mission ended on September 27, 1997.

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