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Mars

fourth planet from the Solar System, tellurian and orange-red due to iron oxide

38 dated entries naming Mars, drawn from 30 separate years between 1590 CE and 2021 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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16th century

  • 1590October 13 – German astronomer Michael Maestlin becomes the first person to record an observation of the occultation of the planet Mars by the planet Venus.source

19th century

  • 1877August 12 – American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, the outer moon of Mars.source
  • 1877August 18 – Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, the inner moon of Mars.source
  • 1899December 2 – During the new moon, a near-grand conjunction of the classical planets and several binocular Solar System bodies occur. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn are all within 15° of each other, with Venus 5° ahead of this conjunction and Jupiter 15° behind.source
  • 1900December 17 – The Prix Guzman, first and only prize ever offered for communication with extraterrestrial life, is announced in Paris. A prize of 100,000 francs is provided, except for communication with Mars, which is considered too easy.source

20th century

  • 1952March 22 – Wernher von Braun publishes the first in his series of articles titled Man Will Conquer Space Soon!, including ideas for crewed flights to Mars and the Moon.source
  • 1965July 14 – U.S. spacecraft Mariner 4 flies by Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to return images from the Red Planet.source
  • 1969August 5 – Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 km).source
  • 1971December 2 – The Soviet Mars 3 lander reaches the surface of Mars, transmits for a few seconds and then goes silent. It is the first spacecraft to reach the planet.source
  • 1971May 30 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.source
  • 1971November 13 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to enter Mars orbit successfully.source
  • 1972February 4 – Mariner 9 sends pictures as it orbits Mars.source
  • 1975August 20 – Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.source
  • 1976August 7 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars.source
  • 1976July 20 – Viking program: The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.source
  • 1976September 3 – Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars, taking the first close-up color photographs of the planet's surface.source
  • 1993August 21 – NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Observer orbiter 3 days before the spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars.source
  • 1996August 6 – NASA announces that the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, may contain evidence of primitive lifeforms; further tests are inconclusive.source
  • 1997July 4 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.source
  • 1998July 5 – Japan launches the probe Nozomi to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as an outer space-exploring nation.source
  • 1999September 23 – NASA permanently loses contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter during orbital insertion around Mars, resulting in the spacecraft's loss and the failure of the mission.source

21st century

  • 2002February 19 – NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.source
  • 2003August 27 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in over 60,000 years.source
  • 2004January 4 – NASA's Spirit rover lands on the surface of Mars.source
  • 2005August 12 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched from Cape Canaveral, designed to explore Mars.source
  • 2006March 10 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters orbit around Mars.source
  • 2007August 4 – The Phoenix spacecraft is launched toward Mars to study its north pole.source
  • 2008May 25 – NASA's uncrewed Phoenix spacecraft becomes the first to land on the northern polar region of Mars.source
  • 2011November 26 – The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. It lands on Mars on August 6, 2012.source
  • 2012August 6 – Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, successfully lands on Mars.source
  • 2014September 24 – The Mars Orbiter Mission, popularly known as Mangalyaan, which was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation, reached Martian orbit, making India the first Asian country to successfully reach Mars.source
  • 2015September 28 – NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.source
  • 2016March 14 – The ESA and Roscosmos launch the joint ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on a mission to Mars.source
  • 2018July 31 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth since 2003, four days after reaching opposition.source
  • 2018May 5 – NASA's space probe InSight is launched. It landed on Mars on November 26 and uses a drill to conduct geological science.source
  • 2018November 26 – NASA's InSight probe successfully lands on the surface of Mars.source
  • 2021February 18 – NASA's Mars 2020 mission (containing the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter drone) lands on Mars at Jezero Crater, after seven months of travel.source
  • 2021February 9 – The UAE's uncrewed Hope spacecraft becomes the first Arabian mission successfully to enter orbit around Mars.source

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