To date there have been 42 missions to Mars, with exactly half of them complete failures. Other than the Earth it is the most studied planet in the solar system, and for centuries it has been at the heart of wild speculation and groundbreaking scientific discoveries. Observations of Mars have not only revealed otherwise unknown secrets but also posed new and exciting questions, and it is for these reasons that it has become the most intriguing planetary body of our time. Take a look at the map above to see key geological points of interest as well as the landing and crash sites for several spacecraft.
This image of the surface of Mars was created by reconstructing data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor, the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter and observations by NASA’s Viking spacecraft.
