History of Mars in Timeline

Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun and dubbed the "Red Planet," is a desert-like rocky world with a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere. Its atmospheric pressure is a fraction of Earth's, with temperatures ranging from −153°C to 20°C. While Mars harbors some water as ground ice, atmospheric vapor, and polar ice caps, liquid surface water is absent. Its surface gravity is about a third of Earth's. The planet has a diameter of 6,779 km, and its surface area equals Earth's dry land.

1909: Antoniadi's Observations of Mars

During observations in 1909 by Antoniadi with an 84-centimetre telescope, irregular patterns were observed, but no canali were seen on Mars.

1909: Campbell and Slipher Repeat Martian Atmosphere Study

In 1909, W. W. Campbell and V. M. Slipher repeated their study of the Martian atmosphere using improved instruments. Their findings continued to contradict existing measurements, indicating that if water vapor or oxygen was present, it was in quantities too small to detect.

1925: Adams Confirms Findings on Martian Atmosphere

In 1925, W. S. Adams confirmed the earlier findings about the Martian atmosphere. This confirmation challenged and ultimately broke the long-held belief that Mars possessed Earth-like habitability.

1938: Publication of C.S. Lewis's 'Out of the Silent Planet'

In 1938, C.S. Lewis published his novel 'Out of the Silent Planet', a science fiction story depicting Mars, influenced by nineteenth-century scientific speculations about Martian life.

Out of the Silent Planet (1) (The Space Trilogy)

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1948: Debut of Marvin the Martian

In 1948, Marvin the Martian, an intelligent Martian character, made his debut in the Looney Tunes animated cartoon 'Haredevil Hare' by Warner Brothers, becoming a popular culture figure.

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1963: First Flight to Mars

In 1963, the first flight to Mars took place with Mars 1, but it was lost en route.

November 1964: Launch of Mariner 4

In November 1964, NASA launched Mariner 4 to visit Mars.

July 1965: Mariner 4 Closest Approach to Mars

On 15 July 1965, Mariner 4 made its closest approach to Mars, detected the weak Martian radiation belt, and captured the first images of another planet from deep space.

1965: First Successful Exploration of Mars

In 1965, the first successful exploration of Mars was conducted by Mariner 4.

1971: First Probe to Orbit Mars

In 1971, Mariner 9 became the first probe to enter orbit around Mars, also the first probe to orbit any body other than the Moon, Sun, and Earth. In the same year, Mars 2 had the first uncontrolled impact on Mars and Mars 3 had the first landing on Mars.

1972: Definition of Mars's Prime Meridian

In 1972, after extensive imagery from Mariner 9, a small crater (Airy-0) in Sinus Meridiani was chosen to define 0.0° longitude for Mars.

1996: Launch of Mars Global Surveyor

The Mars Global Surveyor mission, which launched in 1996, produced detailed maps of the Martian topography, magnetic field, and surface minerals.

1997: Continuous Probe Activity on Mars

Since 1997, there have been continuously active probes at Mars, with more than ten active probes at times, either orbiting Mars or on the Martian surface.

1999: Plate Tectonic Activity Hypothesis

In 1999, a hypothesis suggested that bands of paleomagnetism on Mars indicate plate tectonic activity four billion years ago.

2000: Mars' Core Temperature Estimated

Around 2000, the temperature of Mars's core was estimated to be between 2000 and 2400 K.

2001: 2001 Mars Odyssey in Orbit

As of 2023, 2001 Mars Odyssey is one of the eight orbiters around Mars.

2003: Mars Opposition

In 2003, Mars came into opposition from Earth near Mars's perihelion.

2004: Opportunity Rover Detects Jarosite

In 2004, the Opportunity rover detected the mineral jarosite, indicating the past presence of acidic water on Mars.

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October 2005: Re-examination of Plate Tectonic Hypothesis

In October 2005, with the help of the Mars Global Surveyor, the hypothesis of plate tectonic activity on Mars four billion years ago was re-examined.

2006: End of Mars Global Surveyor Mission

In late 2006, the Mars Global Surveyor mission ended after producing detailed maps of the Martian topography, magnetic field, and surface minerals.

2007: Spirit Rover Finds Silica Deposits

In 2007, the Spirit rover found concentrated deposits of silica, which indicated wet conditions in the past.

December 2011: Opportunity Rover Discovers Gypsum

In December 2011, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity found the mineral gypsum on the surface, further confirming the presence of water.

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2012: Valles Marineris as a Plate Boundary

In 2012, a proposal suggested that Valles Marineris is a plate boundary with transverse motion, potentially making Mars a planet with a two-tectonic plate arrangement.

March 2013: Curiosity Rover Finds Evidence of Mineral Hydration

On 18 March 2013, NASA reported evidence from instruments on the Curiosity rover of mineral hydration in rock samples. The rover's DAN instrument also provided evidence of subsurface water.

2014: Analysis of Martian Meteorite EETA79001

In 2014, analysis of the Martian meteorite EETA79001 revealed significant concentrations of chlorate, perchlorate, and nitrate ions, suggesting their widespread presence on Mars. The analysis also suggested that UV and X-ray radiation would turn chlorate and perchlorate ions into other, highly reactive oxychlorines, indicating that any organic molecules would have to be buried under the surface to survive.

March 2015: Possible Ancient Ocean on Mars

In March 2015, scientists stated that a large portion of the northern plains of Mars might have been covered by an ocean the size of Earth's Arctic Ocean.

September 2015: Evidence of Hydrated Brine Flows

In September 2015, NASA announced finding strong evidence of hydrated brine flows in recurring slope lineae, based on spectrometer readings.

November 2016: Discovery of Underground Ice in Utopia Planitia

In November 2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region, estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior.

September 2017: Intense Martian Aurora

In September 2017, NASA reported that radiation levels on Mars's surface temporarily doubled and were associated with an aurora 25 times brighter than any observed earlier, due to a massive solar storm.

2017: NASA Authorization Act of 2017 directs study of crewed Mars mission

In 2017, the NASA Authorization Act directed NASA to study the feasibility of a crewed Mars mission in the early 2030s; the resulting report concluded that this would be unfeasible.

2018: ExoMars Spots Water Indications

From 2018 through 2021, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spotted indications of water, probably subsurface ice, in the Valles Marineris canyon system.

2018: Mars Opposition

In 2018, Mars came into opposition from Earth near Mars's perihelion.

2019: Marsquakes Detected by InSight

In 2019, it was reported that InSight had detected and recorded over 450 marsquakes and related events, confirming that Mars is seismically active.

2020: Mars Opposition

In 2020, there was a particularly close perihelic opposition of Mars.

2021: ExoMars Spots Water Indications

From 2018 through 2021, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spotted indications of water, probably subsurface ice, in the Valles Marineris canyon system.

2021: China's Crewed Mars Mission Plan

In 2021, China announced plans to send a crewed mission to Mars in 2033.

April 2023: Updated Global Map of Mars

In April 2023, The New York Times reported an updated global map of Mars based on images from the Hope spacecraft. NASA also released a more detailed global Mars map on April 16, 2023.

2023: Functioning Spacecraft on Mars

As of 2023, Mars hosts ten functioning spacecraft, including orbiters like 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, the Hope orbiter, and the Tianwen-1 orbiter, and surface rovers Curiosity and Perseverance.

2023: Evidence of Ancient Ring System

In 2023, a study suggested that Mars may have once had a ring system between 3.5 and 4 billion years ago, based on the orbital inclination of Deimos.

February 2024: Space Debris Accumulation

As of February 2024, space debris from missions to Mars has reached over seven tons, consisting mainly of crashed spacecraft, inactive spacecraft and discarded components.

April 2024: Commercial Services Studies

In April 2024, NASA selected several companies to begin studies on providing commercial services to further enable robotic science on Mars, particularly in the key areas of telecommunications, payload delivery and surface imaging.

April 2024: Elon Musk Envisions Mars Colony

In plans shared with the company in April 2024, Elon Musk envisioned the beginning of a Mars colony within the next twenty years. This would be enabled by the planned mass manufacturing of Starship and initially sustained by resupply from Earth, and in situ resource utilization on Mars, until the Mars colony reaches full self sustainability.

June 2024: Cheyava Falls rock designated as a "potential biosignature"

In June 2024, NASA designated the Cheyava Falls rock on Mars as a "potential biosignature" and the Perseverance rover core sampled it for potential return to Earth for more examination. No definitive determination on a biological or abiotic origin has been made to date.