The journey to discover Mars of humankind

How did mankind's journey of discovery last more than half a century? How remarkable is the progress?

The process of discovering Mars of humankind

Recently, NASA announced that we have found liquid water on the surface of Mars. This discovery marks a big step in the process of researching and exploring the Red Planet starting in 1960.

The following article will help you get a better overview of our species' Mars discovery journey.

1960: The idea of ​​launching a spacecraft onto Mars appears

NASA Mars 1M No1 spacecraft.

Humans have begun to seek to launch a spacecraft to take pictures of the Martian surface, originating with NASA and the Soviet Union (former) Mars 1M No1 project . However, the project failed because Mars 1M was unable to reach the orbit of the Red Planet.

1964: Spacecraft has access to Mars

Mariner 4 - the first spacecraft to reach Mars.

After many failed experiments, November 28, 1964 marked a memorable milestone for all humanity. NASA's Mariner 4 has successfully approached the Red Planet and sent the first pictures of the Martian surface to us.

1969: Capture 20% of Mars's surface

NASA's Mariner 6.

In 1969, NASA continued to imprint with Martian photos from Mariner 6 and Mariner 7. This time, two satellites sent 201 photos, capturing 20% ​​of the surface of the Red Planet.

For the first time, we see dark patches on the surface of this planet, and also get some information about the atmosphere here.

1971: Capture 85% of the Martian surface

On May 30, 1971, NASA successfully implemented the first project to put the Mariner 9 satellite into Mars's orbit. Mariner 9 also provides evidence of huge volcanic ranges here.

In total, satellites sent to humanity 7,329 images, covering 85% of the planet's surface - much larger than previous spacecraft.

The image of the Martian surface was taken by Mariner 9.

The only photo was sent before losing contact of Mars 3.

Also in 1971, the former Soviet Union almost succeeded in bringing the Mars 3 spacecraft to land on the surface of Mars. The reason for using the word 'narrow' is because the ship can only send information within 20 seconds before losing contact.

1975 - 1976: Spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars

Viking spacecraft 1.

NASA launches the Viking project with the aim of bringing high-resolution photos, while looking for life on Mars.

The Viking 1 and Viking 2 spacecraft approached the orbit and successfully landed on the planet's surface, providing us with the first information about the soil composition on Mars.

The first clear picture was taken by Viking 1.

The first color photo of Viking 1, taken on July 21, 1976.

1996: Bringing the robot to the surface of Mars

Sojouner - the first self-propelled robot of the Mars Pathfinder.

During the following years, projects on Mars were not many, and most of them failed. However, NASA's take-off of the Mars Pathfinder on Mars in December 1996 was the first milestone we could get a self-propelled robot (rover) onto the surface of Mars.

Sojourner, Mars Pathfinder's self-propelled robot, stopped working after 84 days, sending 16,500 photos, along with 8.5 million calculations of atmospheric pressure, temperature and wind.

2001: Bringing satellite to Mars orbit

NASA started the project to bring Mars Mars Odyssey to orbit Mars. Mars Odyssey gave some clues in 2002, helping scientists make their conclusions in 2008 about having had water on Mars. This is also the information transfer medium for the famous Curiosity autonomous robot since 2011.

As expected from NASA, Mars Odyssey can work well until 2016, even more so.

2003 - 2004: Found water with ice form at 2 poles of Mars

The European Space Agency (ESA) has also succeeded in bringing Mars Express satellite into the orbit of the Red Planet.

Thanks to Mars Express, ESA has found that there is ice-form water at the poles of Mars in 2004. In addition, the satellite also finds traces of methane in Mars's atmosphere, showing potential for survival. at bacteria on this planet.

Huge ice hole on Mars.

2007: Turned on the whirlwind on Mars

Photograph of the Martian surface from Spirit self-propelled robot.

From 2003 to 2007 was the time when a series of Mars-related projects were successful, including many important findings.

Windstorm on Mars.

These include Spirit's self-propelled robot, which offers extremely high-resolution images, even the video back to the whirlwind on the planet. Or like the Phoenix train - landing near the planet's pole has found frozen water on Mars .

2011: Modern robots successfully landed on the surface of Mars

Curiosity autonomous robot.

Our biggest self-propelled robot - Curiosity - successfully landed. Curiosity is a large-sized robot made by NASA, equipped with many modern technologies, providing scientists with far more accurate information than past robots.

2013: Further study of the natural conditions of Mars

MOM satellite.

NASA continues to launch into Mars orbit 2 MAVEN and Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) satellites to further study Mars's natural conditions, including atmospheric composition, climate, temperature .

2015: Found liquid water

On September 28, 2015, NASA officially announced the discovery of liquid water on the surface of Mars. The result of this "shock" is also due to the development of technology that has allowed Mars to become clearer.

There is liquid water on Mars.(Illustration).

It is estimated that in 2016 and 2017, ESA and NASA will bring 2 ExoMars and InSight satellites into Mars's orbit to carry out further research.

Some scientists say that NASA's biggest goal now is to determine the ability to sustain life on Mars, while seeking to bring people to set foot on this planet in the near future.