Introduction
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander is heading for a dusty, frigid northern plain of Mars, to dig up and analyze samples of dirty ice for evidence of primitive life. But first the lander must land. It will use a set of rocket thrusters to slow down its descent, as shown in this depiction. The maneuver was last successfully employed by the Viking landers in the 1970s. Mars Polar Lander, which was scheduled to touch down in 1999, tried it and crashed. NASA says Phoenix has risen from the ashes of the Polar Lander mission and has been tweaked to succeed where its predecessor failed.
Getting spacecraft to Mars is risky business. Internationally, fewer than half of the attempts have succeeded. When they make it, mission control explodes in cheers and geeky high-fives. When they fail, the silence is broken only by scientists and engineers trying to explain what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. Click the \"Next\" arrow above to learn about nine other hits and misses of Mars exploration.
-- John Roach, msnbc.com contributor
";
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1976: Vikings invade Mars
The Vikings – a pair of spacecraft each equipped with an orbiter and lander – successfully reached the Red Planet in 1976 and launched a new era of Martian research. The orbiters snapped thousands of high-resolution images that brought volcanoes, lava flows, craters and canyons into full view. The landers, one of which is pictured here, studied atmospheric composition and probed surface samples for signs of life. The landers came up short in the search for Martians, though some scientists continue to debate whether the probes were simply ill-equipped for the task.";
MARShitsmisses_science[i++] = new Array("","1997: Surveyor surveys until it drops","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070413/070314_SpacecomMGSFailure_vmed_10a.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "NASA", "273", "178", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
MARShitsmisses_science[i-1].body = "
1997: Surveyor surveys until it drops
After a long hiatus, the 1996 launch of the Mars Global Surveyor helped mark NASA's successful return to the Red Planet. The orbiter, pictured here in an artist's conception, arrived in September 1997 and spent nearly a decade collecting data about the Martian landscape. including evidence of swirling dust devils, gullies apparently carved by flowing water and a 3-D map of the planet's north pole. Human error triggered a series of events that caused a battery failure on the orbiter. Scientists lost contact in November 2006. ";
MARShitsmisses_science[i++] = new Array("","1997: Pathfinder wows the Internet","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080519/080519_Space_Pathfinder1997.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "NASA", "217", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
MARShitsmisses_science[i-1].body = "
1997: Pathfinder wows the Internet
Way back in the summer of 1997, the Mars Pathfinder mission wowed the world with crisp images from the Red Planet's surface and helped spur unprecedented interest in the World Wide Web. Millions of Internet users checked in on the intrepid Sojourner rover as it scooted about the landing site, investigating rocks and collecting data on the Martian winds and weather. Key findings included ample evidence that the planet was once warm and wet. NASA lost contact with the rover in September 2007 and officially ended the mission on March 10, 1998. In this image captured by the Pathfinder lander, Sojourner checks out a rock named \"Yogi.\"";
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MARShitsmisses_science[i-1].body = "
1999: Orbiter loss brings late-night laughs
The Mars Climate Orbiter was meant to study the Red Planet's atmosphere and serve as a communications relay for the Mars Polar Lander, but instead it was lost on arrival and served as fodder for late-night comics. A scientific panel concluded that the spacecraft, pictured here in an artist's rendering, entered the atmosphere at too low of an angle and burned up. The error was largely blamed on a mix-up between metric and English measurement units, which made NASA the butt of many jokes. But the true error lay deeper in mission management, experts say.";
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1999: The lander vanishes
Mars Polar Lander descended to Mars' southern polar region but never called home on Dec. 3, 1999, with news of its safe arrival. NASA scientists concluded that a rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the lander to plummet about 130 feet to virtually certain destruction. This artist's conception shows what the probe would have looked like if it landed safely.";
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MARShitsmisses_science[i-1].body = "
2001-2003: Orbiters penetrate ice
NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter reached the Red Planet on Oct. 24, 2001, and has sent back compelling evidence of abundant water ice beneath the surface of the polar regions. The finding has since been underscored and expanded on by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, which arrived in December 2003 and sent back details about the thickness of the ice. Thermal readings from Odyssey, pictured here, recently charted the varying depths of Mars’ subsurface water ice. These findings helped guide scientists where to dig for water ice with the Phoenix Mars Lander, set to touch down on May 25.";
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MARShitsmisses_science[i-1].body = "
2003: Beagle's call never heard
Scientists were all ears on Christmas Day 2003 for a call from the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 lander, which was scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet and hunt for life. They heard only silence. Repeated attempts were made in the following weeks to pick up a signal, using orbiting spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes. The efforts yielded nothing. Some scientists think the lander may have crashed into one of the craters at its landing site, pictured here. A British parliamentary committee blamed the mishap on a lack of government funding.";
MARShitsmisses_science[i++] = new Array("","2004: Rovers roll on","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070724/070724_spirit_hmed_12p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "NASA / JPL-Caltech", "273", "404", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
MARShitsmisses_science[i-1].body = "
2004: Rovers roll on
NASA's twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity have been rolling on the surface of Mars since January 2004, well past their planned three-month mission. Along the way, they have stunned the world with geologic evidence that water once flowed on or near the planet's surface. In their journeys, they've descended into craters, climbed plateaus and endured raging dust storms. They may be showing some signs of age – such as Spirit's arthritic wheel – but the rovers managed to survive budget cuts and may keep on rolling through 2009. In this image, Spirit stretches a robotic arm to make observations.";
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2006: Recon mission has sharp focus
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the most recent probe to reach the Red Planet. It arrived on March 10, 2006, and is currently making detailed images and studying the planet's water history. A high-resolution camera on board has dazzled scientists and the public with some of the sharpest images ever made of the planet, including this view of an avalanche of dust and ice. The camera also helped NASA scout out the least rocky area for setting down the Phoenix lander.";
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