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Missions to the #Moon #Mars #Moon2Mars #JournyToMars
1996-01-01 - 2032-12-31
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being only larger than Mercury.
In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often referred to as the “Red Planet”. The latter refers to the effect of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars’ surface, which gives it a reddish appearance distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
The days and seasons are comparable to those of Earth, because the rotational period as well as the tilt of the rotational axis relative to the ecliptic plane are similar. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan.
In December 2017, on the 45th anniversary of the last manned mission to the Lunar surface, President Donald Trump approved Space Policy Directive-1 that includes a lunar mission on the pathway to Mars and beyond. The directive calls for NASA to “lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.” With this direction NASA will put astronauts on the Moon in the next decade, and lay the foundation for human exploration of Mars.
Links:
Moon2Mars
NASA’s Moon to Mars Plans – Youtube playlist
NASA Mars Exploration Program
Drie Marsmissies staan in de startblokken

List of Missions to Mars
Summer of Mars Webinar (TV YouTube webcast)
Artemisprogramma / Artemis program
30 days until NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover touch down on Mars
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – landing (TV NASAtv)
Seismic ripples reveal size of Mars’s core
Chinese verkenner maakt geslaagde landing op Mars

Agenda 29-08-2022 – Artemis I : launch

Spin state and deep interior structure of Mars from InSight radio tracking - publication
2023-06-14
Scientists have made the most precise measurements ever of Mars’ rotation, for the first time detecting how the planet wobbles due to the “sloshing” of its molten metal core.
The findings, detailed in a Nature paper, rely on data from NASA’s InSight Mars lander, which operated for four years before running out of power during its extended mission in December 2022. To track the planet’s spin rate, the study’s authors relied on one of InSight’s instruments: a radio transponder and antennas collectively called the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment, or RISE. They found the planet’s rotation is accelerating by about 4 milliarcseconds per year – corresponding to a shortening of the length of the Martian day by a fraction of a millisecond per year. It’s a subtle acceleration, and scientists aren’t entirely sure of the cause. But they have a few ideas, including ice accumulating on the polar caps or post-glacial rebound, where landmasses rise after being buried by ice. The shift in a planet’s mass can cause it to accelerate a bit like an ice skater spinning with their arms stretched out, then pulling their arms in.
Links:
NASA InSight Study Finds Mars Is Spinning Faster

#RedPlanetDay 2023
2023-11-28
Red Planet Day commemorates the launch of the Mariner 4 spacecraft on November 28, 1964 which was the first craft to ever reach Mars.
Since the late 20th century, Mars has been explored by uncrewed spacecraft and rovers, with the first flyby by the Mariner 4 probe in 1965, the first Mars orbiter by the Mars 2 probe in 1971, and the first landing by Viking 1 in 1976. As of 2023, there are at least 11 active probes orbiting Mars or at the Martian surface. Mars is an attractive target for human missions. Mars is the fourth planet and the furthest terrestrial planet from the Sun. The reddish color of its surface is due to finely grained iron(III) oxide dust in the soil, giving it the nickname “the Red Planet”. Mars’s radius is second smallest among the planets in the Solar System at 3,389.5 km (2,106 mi). The Martian dichotomy is visible on the surface: on average, the terrain on Mars’s northern hemisphere is flatter and lower than its southern hemisphere. Mars has a thin atmosphere made primarily of carbon dioxide, and two irregularly shaped natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos. Geologically, Mars is fairly active, with dust devils sweeping across the landscape and marsquakes (Martian analog to earthquakes) trembling underneath the ground. The surface of Mars hosts a large shield volcano (Olympus Mons) and one of the largest canyons in the Solar System (Valles Marineris).
Mars’s significant orbital eccentricity and axial tilt cause large seasonal changes to the polar ice caps‘ coverage and temperature swings between 163K / −110 °C to 308K / 35 °C on the surface. A Martian solar day (sol) is equal to 24.5 hours and a Martian solar year is equal to 1.88 Earth years. Like the other planets in the Solar System, Mars was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. During the Noachian period from about 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago, Mars’s surface was marked by meteor impacts, valley formation, erosion, and the possible presence of water oceans. The Hesperian period from 3.7 to 3.2–2 billion years ago was dominated by widespread volcanic activity and flooding that carved immense outflow channels. The Amazonian period, which continues to the present, was marked by the wind’s influence on geological processes. It is unknown whether life has ever existed on Mars. Mars is among the brightest objects in Earth’s sky, and thus has been known from ancient times. Its high-contrast albedo features make it a common subject for viewing with a telescope.
Links:
Red Planet Day 2023: How Did Mars Get Its Name, Ways It Is Different From Earth; Things To Know
(Exo)Planeet : Mars

Ground penetrating radar observations of the contact between the western delta and the crater floor of Jezero crater, Mars - publication
2024-01-26
The delta deposits in Jezero crater contain sedimentary records of potentially habitable conditions on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is exploring the Jezero western delta with a suite of instruments that include the RIMFAX ground penetrating radar, which provides continuous subsurface images that probe up to 20 meters below the rover.
As Perseverance traversed across the contact between the Jezero crater floor and the delta, RIMFAX detected a distinct discontinuity in the subsurface layer structure. Below the contact boundary are older crater floor units exhibiting discontinuous inclined layering. Above the contact boundary are younger basal delta units exhibiting regular horizontal layering. At one location, there is a clear unconformity between the crater floor and delta layers, which implies that the crater floor experienced a period of erosion before the deposition of the overlying delta strata. The regularity and horizontality of the basal delta sediments observed in the radar cross sections indicate that they were deposited in a low-energy lake environment.
Links:
Ground penetrating radar observations of the contact between the western delta and the crater floor of Jezero crater, Mars

Krater op rode planeet was ooit een meer, bevestigt Marsrover

2024 #HumansToMars Summit
2024-05-07 - 2024-05-08 | Washington DC, Washington DC, Verenigde Staten
H2M 2024 will focus on questions that include:

Do we have a viable mission architecture plan for Mars?
What are the most significant technological hurdles (or long poles) that need to be overcome before humanity steps on the surface of Mars?
Do we have an adequate pipeline of skilled workers to build our future in space?
How can governments and commercial industry collaborate to enable a human presence on Mars?
Can we send humans to Mars in 2033?
How can innovations from Mars-focused R&D drive value and improvement on Earth, and how can stakeholders contribute?
What are the major Mars science achievements over the past year – and what are our objectives before humans first step foot on the surface?
How can we most effectively protect the physical and mental health of astronauts voyaging to and from Mars?

Links:
Humans to Mars Summit

#10thMars conference
2024-07-22 - 2024-07-25
The Tenth International Conference on Mars will be an ideal time to take fresh stock of our body of Red Planet knowledge, share discoveries, review recommendations and findings of the various community strategic visions, and revisit our list of top science objectives.
It is also an opportunity to look ahead to the science of Mars Sample Return, ESA’s ExoMars Rover and Surface Platform, JAXA’s Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, other missions in development worldwide, and NASA’s Moon to Mars human exploration architecture. Contributions from Mars scientists in all scientific sub-disciplines are invited, including specific data-driven abstracts and broader synthesis abstracts. Oral presentations will be selected with a preference for those integrating individual science results, placing a current state of understanding within a larger context and addressing the evolution of scientific objectives as motivated by ongoing discovery and scholarship.
Links:
10th Mars conference

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Scientists Find Intriguing Mars Rock - publication
2024-07-25
NASA’s Perseverance Rover found a fascinating rock that has some indications it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago, but further research is needed.
A vein-filled rock is catching the eye of the science team of NASA’s Perseverance rover. Nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” by the team, the arrowhead-shaped rock contains fascinating traits that may bear on the question of whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past. Analysis by instruments aboard the rover indicates the rock possesses qualities that fit the definition of a possible indicator of ancient life. The rock exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could possibly have been formed by life billions of years ago when the area being explored by the rover contained running water. Other explanations for the observed features are being considered by the science team, and future research steps will be required to determine whether ancient life is a valid explanation. The rock — the rover’s 22nd rock core sample — was collected on July 21, as the rover explored the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley measuring 400 meters wide that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.
Links:
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Scientists Find Intriguing Mars Rock
Die Nasa präsentiert ein Marsgestein, das möglicherweise Spuren einstigen Lebens enthält – mit der Betonung auf möglicherweise

#RedPlanetDay 2024
2024-11-28
Red Planet Day commemorates the launch of the Mariner 4 spacecraft on November 28, 1964 which was the first craft to ever reach Mars.
Since the late 20th century, Mars has been explored by uncrewed spacecraft and rovers, with the first flyby by the Mariner 4 probe in 1965, the first Mars orbiter by the Mars 2 probe in 1971, and the first landing by Viking 1 in 1976. As of 2023, there are at least 11 active probes orbiting Mars or at the Martian surface. Mars is an attractive target for human missions. Mars is the fourth planet and the furthest terrestrial planet from the Sun. The reddish color of its surface is due to finely grained iron(III) oxide dust in the soil, giving it the nickname “the Red Planet”. Mars’s radius is second smallest among the planets in the Solar System at 3,389.5 km (2,106 mi). The Martian dichotomy is visible on the surface: on average, the terrain on Mars’s northern hemisphere is flatter and lower than its southern hemisphere. Mars has a thin atmosphere made primarily of carbon dioxide, and two irregularly shaped natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos. Geologically, Mars is fairly active, with dust devils sweeping across the landscape and marsquakes (Martian analog to earthquakes) trembling underneath the ground. The surface of Mars hosts a large shield volcano (Olympus Mons) and one of the largest canyons in the Solar System (Valles Marineris).
Mars’s significant orbital eccentricity and axial tilt cause large seasonal changes to the polar ice caps‘ coverage and temperature swings between 163K / −110 °C to 308K / 35 °C on the surface. A Martian solar day (sol) is equal to 24.5 hours and a Martian solar year is equal to 1.88 Earth years. Like the other planets in the Solar System, Mars was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. During the Noachian period from about 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago, Mars’s surface was marked by meteor impacts, valley formation, erosion, and the possible presence of water oceans. The Hesperian period from 3.7 to 3.2–2 billion years ago was dominated by widespread volcanic activity and flooding that carved immense outflow channels. The Amazonian period, which continues to the present, was marked by the wind’s influence on geological processes. It is unknown whether life has ever existed on Mars. Mars is among the brightest objects in Earth’s sky, and thus has been known from ancient times. Its high-contrast albedo features make it a common subject for viewing with a telescope.
Links:
Red Planet Day: A Celebration of Mars and Its Mysteries
(Exo)Planeet : Mars

Detection of ferrihydrite in Martian red dust records ancient cold and wet conditions on Mars - publication
2025-02-25
Mars is widely known for its rusty red color — many people even refer to it as just the “Red Planet” — but research suggests the chemistry behind Mars’ rosy hue may actually hold important information.
For decades, spacecraft and rovers have gathered data pointing to a familiar explanation behind Mars’ redness: the rusting of iron minerals, namely iron oxide, in the planet’s dust. That’s the same compound that gives your standard “rust” on Earth its red color. Scientists already knew that on Mars, over billions of years, iron oxide has been ground into dust and carried across the planet by powerful winds, a process still shaping the Martian landscape today. However, not all iron oxides are the same, so experts have long debated the precise nature of Martian rust. Understanding how this rust formed offers a crucial glimpse into the planet’s past environment — was it once warm and wet, or always cold and dry? And, more importantly, did it ever support life?
Links:
What makes Mars the ‘Red’ Planet? Scientists have some new ideas

2025 Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit
2025-05-28 - 2025-05-29 | Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., Verenigde Staten
Explore Mars announced the launch of the 2025 Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit (H2M2).
As humanity advances toward a multi-planetary future, H2M2 2025 is where industry leaders, astronauts, and policymakers come together to shape the next steps in lunar and Martian exploration. Taking place May 28-29, 2025, in Washington, D.C., this summit offers exclusive insights, cutting-edge research, and critical policy discussions driving space innovation. From AI-driven mission planning to sustainable space infrastructure, H2M2 2025 delivers unmatched networking and thought leadership for those defining the future of space.
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Links:
2025 Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit

Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars - publication
2025-09-10
NASA says Mars rover discovered potential biosignature in 2024.
A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls” last year, the sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” contains potential biosignatures, according to the paper ‘Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars’ published in the journal Nature. A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
Links:
NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year
Es gab wahrscheinlich Leben auf dem Mars
Did NASA Just Find Alien Life on Mars?
Agenda – Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars – publication

ESCAPADE mission to Mars
2025-11-09 20:45 - 2028-05-09 00:00 (Europe/Amsterdam)
Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) is a planned spacecraft mission to Mars consisting of two spacecraft known as Blue and Gold, the mission is led by UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory.
Once expected to launch in October 2024, it is part of NASA‘s SIMPLEx program. In August 2024 the spacecraft arrived at the launch site. However, NASA postponed the launch due to schedule and technical issues involved with the mission’s New Glenn launch vehicle, which was set to debut with the launch of these spacecraft. Launch on the New Glenn is now planned for no earlier than November 9, 2025. The science goals of ESCAPADE are to:

understand the processes controlling the structure of Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and how it guides ion flows
understand how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars’ magnetosphere
understand the processes controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the collisional atmosphere

There are three science experiments onboard each identical spacecraft: EMAG, EESA, and ELP. EMAG, which was developed by the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, is a magnetometer that will measure DC magnetic fields up to 1000 nT, mounted at the end of the boom to reduce magnetic noise from the spacecraft. EESA is an electrostatic analyzer designed to measure the energies, fluxes, and masses of suprathermal ions from 2 eV to 20 keV and energies and fluxes of suprathermal electrons from 3 eV to 10 keV. It is mounted on the upper deck of the spacecraft bus, with a 240° x 120° field of view for electrons and 247.5° x 90° field of view for ions. ELP, developed by the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, is a Langmuir probe consisting of three separate sensors: the multi-needle Langmuir probe (mNLP) consists of 4 thin needles mounted in two pairs ~3/4 way up the boom and measures thermal electron density; the two planar ion probes (PIPs) are mounted on the instrument deck and measure thermal ion density, and the floating potential probe (FPP) is also mounted on the spacecraft deck and measures changes in relative spacecraft electrostatic potential. Once the nominal science orbit is achieved, approximately six months after arriving at Mars, Science Campaign A involves both spacecraft flying in the same orbit at varying distances from one another, ~170 × 8,400 km (5.66 hours) with an inclination of 65 degrees. This will last approximately six months, at which time Blue will lower its apoapsis to 7,000 km and Gold will raise its apoapsis to 10,000 km. With different orbital periods (4.9 and 6.6 hours), the orbits will precess (due to Mars’ nonuniform gravity field) at different rates and thus separate, allowing simultaneous measurements of distant parts of the Mars magnetosphere. This campaign will operate for approximately five months until the end of the nominal science mission less than three years after launch. Launches on November 9 and 12, 2025, were scrubbed due to weather conditions and solar storms; the next launch attempt is scheduled for November 13, 2025. The launch window opens at 19:57 UTC and runs through 21:25 UTC.
Links:
ESCAPADE
Voor het eerst in jaren missie naar Mars, vuurproef voor raket Jeff Bezos

#RedPlanetDay 2025
2025-11-28
Red Planet Day commemorates the launch of the Mariner 4 spacecraft on November 28, 1964 which was the first craft to ever reach Mars.
Since the late 20th century, Mars has been explored by uncrewed spacecraft and rovers, with the first flyby by the Mariner 4 probe in 1965, the first Mars orbiter by the Mars 2 probe in 1971, and the first landing by Viking 1 in 1976. As of 2023, there are at least 11 active probes orbiting Mars or at the Martian surface. Mars is an attractive target for human missions. Mars is the fourth planet and the furthest terrestrial planet from the Sun. The reddish color of its surface is due to finely grained iron(III) oxide dust in the soil, giving it the nickname “the Red Planet”. Mars’s radius is second smallest among the planets in the Solar System at 3,389.5 km (2,106 mi). The Martian dichotomy is visible on the surface: on average, the terrain on Mars’s northern hemisphere is flatter and lower than its southern hemisphere. Mars has a thin atmosphere made primarily of carbon dioxide, and two irregularly shaped natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos. Geologically, Mars is fairly active, with dust devils sweeping across the landscape and marsquakes (Martian analog to earthquakes) trembling underneath the ground. The surface of Mars hosts a large shield volcano (Olympus Mons) and one of the largest canyons in the Solar System (Valles Marineris).
Mars’s significant orbital eccentricity and axial tilt cause large seasonal changes to the polar ice caps‘ coverage and temperature swings between 163K / −110 °C to 308K / 35 °C on the surface. A Martian solar day (sol) is equal to 24.5 hours and a Martian solar year is equal to 1.88 Earth years. Like the other planets in the Solar System, Mars was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. During the Noachian period from about 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago, Mars’s surface was marked by meteor impacts, valley formation, erosion, and the possible presence of water oceans. The Hesperian period from 3.7 to 3.2–2 billion years ago was dominated by widespread volcanic activity and flooding that carved immense outflow channels. The Amazonian period, which continues to the present, was marked by the wind’s influence on geological processes. It is unknown whether life has ever existed on Mars. Mars is among the brightest objects in Earth’s sky, and thus has been known from ancient times. Its high-contrast albedo features make it a common subject for viewing with a telescope.
Links:
Red Planet Day: A Celebration of Mars and Its Mysteries
Red Planet Day 2025: Why November 28 Marks A Landmark Moment In Mars Exploration
(Exo)Planeet : Mars

Viking@50: 50 Years on Mars
2026-07-20
The Viking program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2 both launched in 1975, and landed on Mars in 1976.
The mission effort began in 1968 and was managed by the NASA Langley Research Center. Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts: an orbiter spacecraft which photographed the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander which studied the planet from the surface. The orbiters also served as communication relays for the landers once they touched down. The Viking program grew from NASA’s earlier, even more ambitious, Voyager Mars program, which was not related to the successful Voyager deep space probes of the late 1970s. Viking 1 was launched on August 20, 1975, and the second craft, Viking 2, was launched on September 9, 1975, both riding atop Titan IIIE rockets with Centaur upper stages. Viking 1 entered Mars orbit on June 19, 1976, with Viking 2 following on August 7. After orbiting Mars for more than a month and returning images used for landing site selection, the orbiters and landers detached; the landers then entered the Martian atmosphere and soft-landed at the sites that had been chosen. The Viking 1 lander touched down on the surface of Mars on July 20, 1976, more than two weeks before Viking 2‘s arrival in orbit. Viking 2 then successfully soft-landed on September 3. The orbiters continued imaging and performing other scientific operations from orbit while the landers deployed instruments on the surface. The program terminated in 1982. The project cost was roughly US$1 billion at the time of launch, equivalent to about $6 billion in 2024 dollars. The mission was considered successful and formed most of the body of knowledge about Mars through the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Links:
Viking Project
50 jaar na landing Viking-missie: nog steeds kans op leven op Mars
