Atmosphere
Thin, mostly carbon dioxide with nitrogen and argon.
Acquiring mission data
Apex AndromedaApex AndromedaAcquiring mission data
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Planet 04 · Terrestrial desert planet
A rusted world with the evidence of water still carved into it.
Mars is a cold desert today, but its valleys, deltas, lakebeds, and water-formed minerals record a much wetter past. Orbiters, landers, rovers, and one very stubborn helicopter have turned it into the most intensely explored planet beyond Earth.
World profile
Thin, mostly carbon dioxide with nitrogen and argon.
Basaltic rock and iron-rich dust, giant volcanoes, deep canyons, polar ice, and ancient water channels.
Average about −85 °F (−65 °C)
Two — Phobos and Deimos
Composition
Field notes
Mars looks red because iron minerals in its dust oxidized — it rusted.
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system and Valles Marineris dwarfs Earth's great canyons.
Water now survives mainly as ice, hydrated minerals, and possible seasonal brines because the air is too thin for stable surface lakes.
Sourced image archive
Every image keeps its credit, capture date, description, and original source. Mission imagery links back into the same Andromeda mission catalog.
Mission imagery
An orthographic global mosaic assembled from about 1,000 Viking Orbiter red- and violet-filter images, with nearly complete planetary coverage.
Connected mission archive
Flybys, orbiters, landers, atmospheric probes, rovers, launch missions, gravity assists, and system satellites are linked here when they exist in the Andromeda catalog.
Open mission browser →69 linked missions · showing 1–24
Mars · Deep-space mission
Mars 2020 is catalogued by GCAT as a deep-space mission in the Mars Program program.
View in 3D map — Mars 2020Primary facts source
NASA Science · Mars facts ↗
Mars · Rover
A rover reading Jezero Crater’s rocks for evidence of ancient microbial life.
View in 3D map — Mars 2020 Perseverance
Mars · Orbiter
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is catalogued by GCAT as a deep-space mission in the ESA Plan program.
View in 3D map — ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter
Mars · Planetary Science
KASA's Mars-orbiter roadmap aims for a 2035 spacecraft to study Martian atmosphere, topography, and Earth-Mars communications.
View in 3D map — Korea Mars OrbiterMars · Planetary Science
ESA Mars rover targeting launch in 2028.
View in 3D map — ExoMars Rosalind Franklin RoverMars · Mars sample return
China’s planned two-launch Mars sample-return mission, targeted around 2028 with sample return around 2031.
View in 3D map — Tianwen 3Mars · Robotic Exploration
ESA's ExoMars 2028 mission will land the Rosalind Franklin rover to drill beneath Mars' surface and search for biosignatures in ancient rocks.
View in 3D map — ExoMars 2028 Rosalind Franklin RoverPhobos and Deimos · Planetary Science
MMX will land on Phobos, collect samples, deploy a rover, and return them to Earth as Japan's Martian moon exploration mission.
View in 3D map — Martian Moon eXplorer (MMX)Mars · Launch payload
ESCAPADE (or ESCApe And Plasma Acceleration And Dynamics Explorer) are twin spacecraft designed by Rocket Lab and will be sent to Mars. The Spacecraft have been called Blue and Gold and will study how solar winds affect the atmosphere of Mars.
View in 3D map — ESCAPADEMars · Launch payload
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the Psyche Asteroid Mission mission on Friday, October 13, 2023 at 2:19 PM (UTC).
View in 3D map — Psyche Asteroid MissionMars · Launch payload
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched the Perseverance (Mars 2020) mission on Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 11:50 AM (UTC).
View in 3D map — Perseverance (Mars 2020)
Deep space · Rover
Tianwen yi hao is catalogued by GCAT as a deep-space mission in the Tianwen program.
View in 3D map — Tianwen yi haoMars · Launch payload
A China Long March 5 rocket launched the Tianwen-1 (Huoxing-1, HX-1) mission on Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 4:41 AM (UTC).
View in 3D map — Tianwen-1 (Huoxing-1, HX-1)Mars · Launch payload
A JAXA H-IIA rocket launched the Emirates Mars Mission (Hope) mission on Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 9:58 PM (UTC).
View in 3D map — Emirates Mars Mission (Hope)Mars · Deep-space mission
Insight is catalogued by GCAT as a deep-space mission in the Discovery program.
View in 3D map — InsightMars · Launch payload
A Roscosmos Proton-M rocket launched the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter & Schiaparelli Lander mission on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 9:31 AM (UTC).
View in 3D map — ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter & Schiaparelli LanderMars · Launch payload
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched the Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) mission on Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 3:02 PM (UTC).
View in 3D map — Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)Associations use destination records plus a curated cross-world manifest for flybys and gravity assists. Mission-name collisions such as Project Mercury and Saturn launch vehicles are deliberately kept with Earth unless they actually visited the planet. Technically obvious; historically necessary.
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