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NASA Is Going Back To Mars
NASA is leading our nation and our world on a journey to Mars. Like the Apollo Program, we embark on this journey for all humanity. Unlike Apollo, we will be going to stay. This is a historic pioneering endeavor—a journey made possible by a sustained effort of science and exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit with successively more capable technologies and partnerships.
Learn MoreLearn More About Mars
Though details of Mars' surface are difficult to see from Earth, telescope observations show seasonally changing features and white patches at the poles. For decades, people speculated that bright and dark areas on Mars were patches of vegetation, Mars was a likely place for advanced life forms, and water might exist in the polar caps.
Learn MoreInterested in Past Mars Mission
Mars and its moons have been a target for many spacecraft, with flyby, orbiter, lander and rover missions visiting the planet. In addition, two spacecraft, Rosetta and Dawn, have made flybys to get gravity assists for other missions; the former having visited comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and the latter en route to asteroid 4 Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. Three missions were dedicated to Phobos, but they did not achieve their goals.
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