There have been many unmanned missions to Mars and there will be many more in the near future. The 2001 Mars Odyssey had a mission to improve scientists understandings of Mars’s climate and geologic history, including the search for water and evidence of life-sustaining environments. Another mission of the 2001 Mars Odyssey was to find chemical elements and minerals that make up the surface of Mars. From the elements, minerals, and rocks that are found on Mars scientists can discover more significant information about the history of Mars. So far, these factors have led scientists to discover the evolution of Mars' climate and the role water has on the planet, the potential origin of Mars and evidence of life, and the possibilities that may exist for human exploration in the future on Mars. Other goals scientists have from the Odyssey mission include determining the amount of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface of Mars, mapping the elements that make up Mars, getting high-resolution thermal infrared images of surface minerals on Mars, providing information of the structure of the surface on Mars, and recording the radiation environment in low Mars’s orbit (it is related to the radiation risk to human exploration). The 2001 Mars Odyssey had many discoveries including providing images of the climate, geology, and mineralogy on mars. The Odyssey also mapped the amounts and distributions of hydrogen, silicon, iron, potassium, thorium, and chlorine on the surface of Mars. A final discovery of the 2001 Mars Odyssey was the radiation in the low-Mars orbit, which was essential for discovery because of the potential health risks to human exploration on Mars. Scientists discovered that the radiation is twice the amount of radiation in the low-Earth orbit. The 2001 Mars Odyssey was a successful unmanned mission to Mars and delivered many important discoveries on Mars.
The 2001 Mars Odyssey
The next unmanned mission to Mars was the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter which was launched in 2003. The missions of the Mars Express was to study the geology, atmosphere, surface environment, history of water and potential for life on Mars. The Mars Express had many accomplishments, including subsurface measurements with the first radar instrument ever flown to Mars, and discovering underground water-ice deposits. The Mars Express delivered mineralogical evidence for the presence of liquid water throughout the history of Mars and studied the density of Mars’s crust in greater detail. The orbiter's unique orbit also has allowed it make up-closed studies of Phobos, (The larger one of Mars' two moons).
The Mars Express
Another unmanned mission to Mars was the Spirit and Opportunity twin rovers. The mission of Spirit and Opportunity were to study the history of climate and water at sites on Mars where conditions may once have been livable. Each rover is equipped with science instruments to read the geologic record at each site, to investigate what role water played there and to determine how suitable the conditions would have been for life. The Spirit rover revealed an ancient Mars that was very different from the Mars we see today. Spirit also uncovered strong evidence that Mars was much wetter than it is now in a silica patch said to be produced by hot springs or steam vents. The rover captured of dust devils in motion, which helped scientists have better understanding of the wind on Mars.The Opportunity rover delivered evidence that its area of Mars stayed wet for an extended period of time long ago, with conditions that could have been suitable for sustaining microbial life. Opportunity also analyzed exposed rock layers recording how environmental conditions changed over time.
The Spirit Rover
The Opportunity Rover.
Another one of the unmanned missions to Mars was The Mars Recon Orbiter. The orbiter serves as a data relay station for other Mars missions. The mission of The Mars Recon Orbiter was to track changes in the water and dust in Mars' atmosphere, look for more evidence of ancient seas and hot springs on Mars, and look into the climate changes on Mars by studying surface minerals and layering. The findings of the Mars Recon Orbiter include discovering that the action of water on and near the surface of Mars occurred for hundreds of millions of years. The spacecraft also observed a variety of watery environments, some acidic, some alkaline, which increases the possibility that there are places on Mars that could reveal evidence of previous life on Mars, if there was any.
The Mars Recon Orbiter (Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter.jpg)
Finally, the last unmanned mission to Mars was the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity. The mission of the Curiosity is to find out if Mars ever was, or is still today able to support microbial life. In order to find out, the rover will carry the biggest and most advanced instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the surface of Mars. The rover will analyze many samples scooped from the soil and drilled from rocks on Mars. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to detect chemicals and cells that build life on Mars and will discover what the environment on Mars was like in the past. Although Curiosity was only launched in 2011, scientists have discovered that Curiosity has landed safely on Mars and is on Gale crater, studying the rocks and the soil there.
The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
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