Missions To Mars - The History of Mars Missions

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Meanwhile, the Mars Express Orbiter will be kept busy with six other experiments that it is carrying. Ranging from a high-resolution camera which will image the whole planet in full-colour (in addition to the cameras that Beagle 2 will carry), to atmospheric measuring devices that amongst other objectives will search for sub-surface water from orbit.

There is still six months to go until any of these three missions actually arrive at Mars, and it is somewhat sobering to consider that even given the fact that now is a seventeen year launch window, when Mars makes its closest approach to Earth. The craft will still have to travel some 80 million kilometres to get there. And as we know from the failed Russian Mission to Mars in 1996, which also took off from Baïkonur, but failed to make it out of Earths orbit. Much can go wrong between here and there.

If however these missions do make it to Mars then it will be a cause for real excitement. Not only will we have the prospect of more fabulous images of our red friend, some great data to ponder, and answers to immediate questions about water on mars and its atmospheric makeup. But it would also mark the first cautious steps to continuing a human exploration of space that began, and for a time after seemed to falter with, the Moon landings, and even possibly answer the fundamental question of whether life exists on another planet and hence at last know for sure that we are not alone in the Universe.

Copyright - Stuart Brown

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