55 percent of NASA missions to Mars have ended in failure.
The only other country to land a spacecraft on Mars was the Soviet Union in 1971 and 1973.
The United States, the Soviet Union, the European Space Agency and India have successfully sent spacecraft to enter Mars’ orbit.
Timeline:
1965 – Mariner 4 passes within 6,000 miles (about 9650 kilometers) of Mars and takes the first close-up photos of the planet’s surface.
1969 – Mariners 6 and 7 pass within about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) of the planet and transmit information about the planet’s surface and atmosphere.
November 3, 1971 – Mariner 9 launches. It reaches orbit on November 24, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit a planet other than Earth.
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November 26, 2011 – The Curiosity rover launches from Cape Canaveral at 10:02am, aboard an Atlas V rocket bound for Mars. The journey is scheduled to last approximately 8.5 months.
August 6, 2012 – Curiosity successfully lands on Mars at 1:32am EDT.
September 26, 2013 – The journal Science publishes five articles regarding Mars, revealing raw data which indicates the Martian surface contains about two percent water by weight.
September 21, 2014 – NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission) craft arrives in Mars’ orbit after traveling 442 million miles in the course of 10 months to get there. It is the first mission devoted to studying the upper Martian atmosphere as a key to understanding the history of Mars’ climate, water and habitability.
September 24, 2014 – India’s Mars Orbiter Mission successfully enters Mars’ orbit, becoming the first nation to arrive on its first attempt, and the first Asian country to reach the Red Planet.
January 16, 2015 – NASA announces that the Beagle 2, missing for 11 years, has been spotted on Mars. It appears the lander’s solar panels did not completely open upon landing, hindering communication.
