Viking 1 & 2
Two orbiters and two landers: detailed images, atmospheric measurements and biological experiments. These experiments did not establish a discovery of life.
Source ↗UNIVERSUM · MARS
Missions to Mars
From the first images to mobile laboratories: milestones in robotic exploration.
A historical selection ordered by arrival or landing year. It does not describe the spacecraft’s current operational status.
Pathfinder & Sojourner
Landing on 4 July. Sojourner became the first rover to explore Mars, paving the way for larger vehicles.
Source ↗Mars Express
Arrival in orbit in December. The European mission investigates the surface, subsurface, atmosphere and moons.
Source ↗Spirit & Opportunity
Two rovers landed in January to seek evidence of past water activity in different regions.
Source ↗Curiosity
Landing in Gale on 6 August UTC. The mobile laboratory analyses rocks and past habitability.
Source ↗MAVEN
Orbit insertion in September. Upper-atmosphere research helps explain atmospheric escape into space.
Source ↗Hope
The UAE probe reached Mars orbit on 9 February to study the atmosphere and its variations.
Source ↗Tianwen-1 & Zhurong
The Chinese mission arrived in orbit in February; its lander and Zhurong rover landed in May.
Source ↗Perseverance & Ingenuity
Landing in Jezero in February. Perseverance studies rocks and collects samples; Ingenuity demonstrated powered flight in the Martian atmosphere.
Source ↗Sources and credits
Space-mission images; mosaics and processing are identified in the credits. NASA/JPL · Image use
Educational reference values and sources checked on 23 October 2026.