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Revision Date: 12/01/2001

Note that in the following table three missions have been identified as "Cancelled". These missions were cancelled as a result of the loss of the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter missions. These loses resulted in a redesign of the US program of Mars exploration. Replacing the three cancelled missions are the Twin Mars Exploration Rovers mission and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.


* Future Missions *

Planned
Launch
Date
Nation
of
Origin
Mission
Name
Planned
Mars
Arrival
Date
Mission Goal
04/2001 US Mars Surveyor '01 Lander and Rover
Cancelled
01/2002 The purpose of this mission was to study soil, dust, and the radiation environment to assist in planning future manned missions. The rover was to traverse tens of kilometers of the surface. Originally, samples were to be collected for retrieval by a subsequent sample return mission but that was then delayed to a later mission. An on-site propellant production plant was also to have been tested for the first time is the history of space exploration. This mission was cancelled following the failures of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter missions.
06/01/2003 ESA Mars Express
Orbiter and Lander
12/2003 The orbiter, Mars Express, will collect data on meteorology, the upper atmosphere, and carry out photogeology and mineralogical mapping. The lander, Beagle 2, will search for evidence of life, both past and present, as well as studying the local geology and weather.
06/2003 US Mars Aladdin 02-06/2005 This is a proposed Discovery class mission to retrieve samples from the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos and return those samples to Earth in January 2006.
05-06/2003 US Mars Surveyor 2003
Lander/Rover
Cancelled
Sprng/2004 A mission to send a Lander/Rover mission to collect data on the local geology and climatic history. The rover would have collected some samples and returned them to the lander where they were to be placed into the MAV(Mars Ascent Vehicle). The MAV would have delivered the samples to Mars orbit where they would have been retrieved by a subsequent sample return mission. This mission was cancelled following the failures of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter missions.
05-06/2003 US Twin Mars Exploration Rovers 01/2004 This mission will send two rovers to the martian surface on a 90 day mission to explore the local geology. The two identical rovers will be able to traverse about 100 meters per day - about the same as the total distance travelled by the Soujourner rover from the Pathfinder mission. This mission is a replacement for the cancelled Mars Surveyor 2003 Lander/Rover mission.
07-08/2005 US Mars Surveyor 2005
Orbiter/Lander/Rover
Cancelled
Sprng/2006 A Lander/Rover mission that would have collected data on the local geology and climatic history. The rover was to collect samples and return them to the lander where they were to be placed into the MAV(Mars Ascent Vehicle). The MAV would have delivered the samples to Mars orbit. A French-built orbiter was planned to retrieve this MAV and the MAV from the previous mission and return their samples to Earth by 2008.
08/2005 US Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 03/2006 An orbiter mission to study the martian climate and weather, search for water, and identify potential landing sites for future missions. The planned mission duration is one martian year. This mission is a replacement for the cancelled Mars Surveyor 2003 Lander/Rover mission.
09/2007 France CNES Netlander 08/2008 A mission to send four separate landers to separate locations on Mars so that they may simultaneously collect data on the atmosphere, local geology, and internal structure of Mars. The four landers will use an orbiter as their communications relay. The landers are to operate for one martian year.


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