The Next Space Sprint Mars Missions History of Camille M. Carlisle Illustration by Terri Dubé Success or Failure? So far, humans have launched 42 missions to the Red Planet. Of those, 43% have failed, 38% succeeded, and 19% were partial successes. The low success rate has led scientists to joke about the "Martian ghoul." The spacecraft launching in 2020 build on more than a half century of exploration, much of it unsuccessful. A revamped, strategic approach by NASA fostered a string of achievements since 2000. Failure Success Partial * Learn more at https://is.gd/ marscrafthistory. 19 P Penetrator R Rover S Sample return F Flyby L Lander O Orbiter s 70 1990 O+L MARS February 2021 s L+P O+L F+L O F+L 00 L+R 1960s O 1980 O+L F O+L O+L F F O F Missions and NASA Strategies F O+L O F F R O R O O+L O F O+S R O O O+L s Mars Exploration L O O+L+P 2010 F s L s O O 20 O O NASA began a "Follow the Water" strategy for its Mars Exploration Program in the early 2000s. The evolving approach includes ESA missions NASA has collaborated on. Although not formally part of the Mars Exploration Program, other projects (off-white) are joining the effort and are shown here for timeline completeness. Follow the water Prepare for human exploration Explore habitability Seek signs of life Not part of program LAUNCH YEAR AND NAME (F) Flown (ID) In Development 16 2001 (F) Mars Odyssey N O V E M B E R 2 0 17 * S K Y & T E L E S C O P E 2003 (F) Mars Express 2003 (F) MER Spirit 2003 (F) MER Opportunity 2005 (F) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiterhttps://www.is.gd/marscrafthistory https://www.is.gd/marscrafthistory