Missions to Mars

Mars is a very popular destination for space exploration. In 1963, Mars 1 became the the first space craft to reach the little red planet and fly past it. Since then, lots of other missions have made the journey from Earth to its rusty-coloured neighbour to uncover its secrets. Some observe Mars from a distance, studying its atmopshere and climate and sending back lots of lovely photographs while orbiting it. Others land on Mars itself, travel around its surface, prod its rocks and probe its soil. This is all in the name of science with scientists eager to understand more about the history of Mars, what kind of role water plays on the planet, and whether or not life could exist on the there, either in the past, present or in the future. It's all very exciting.

Mars is millions of miles away from Earth, but in space terms, this is almost next door. Only Venus is closer to Earth. Despite being near to Earth, it's not easy to get to Mars and lots of missions to reach it have failed. Here are some of the key missions that have made their way there, some succesfully, some not.