The U.S.

 Mars Science Laboratory rover, called Curiosity, landed

in Gale crater in 2012. Weighing about 900 kg (2,000 pounds) and
measuring about 3 metres (10 feet) long, it was the heaviest and
longest rover on Mars. Gale crater is at a low elevation, so if Mars ever
had surface water, it would have pooled there. Aeolis Mons (also called
Mount Sharp), the crater’s central mountain, consists of many layers
of sedimentary rock that were laid down over much of Mars’s
geological history. Curiosity took pictures of water-transported gravel,
which suggests that at one time Gale crater was likely the floor of an
ancient stream. Curiosity also found that early Mars could have
supported life. It discovered traces of organic molecules preserved
in rock layers 3.5 billion years old and that the amount of methane in
the Martian atmosphere varies with the seasons.

In September 2014 two probes entered Martian orbit. The U.S. Mars

Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probe studied the upper
atmosphere and found that Mars had lost most of its early atmosphere
to the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation and solar wind. India’s Mars Orbiter
Mission (MOM) probe was that country’s first to reach another planet.
Its instruments included a colour camera, an ultraviolet spectrometer,
and a sensor for methane.

The ExoMars mission was a joint project of the European Space

Agency and Russia. The first part of the mission arrived at Mars in
October 2016 and consisted of two spacecraft—the Trace Gas Orbiter
(TGO) and the Schiaparelli lander. Schiaparelli ejected its parachute
early and crashed into the surface. The TGO mapped the vertical
distribution of dust and water vapour in the atmosphere. It did not
detect any methane, which conflicted with Curiosity’s detection and
suggests that some process destroys methane before it spreads
throughout the atmosphere.

The U.S. InSight (Interior exploration

using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport) lander
touched down on Elysium Planitia in November 2018. InSight placed a
seismometer on the surface that made the first detections of quakes on
Mars and revealed the planet’s internal structure. The lander also
deployed a probe that burrowed into the ground to study heat flow in
the soil. However, the probe seemed to have hit some underground
obstacle, such as a rock or gravel, because it stopped before reaching
the desired depth. The same rocket that launched InSight also carried
two “CubeSats,” small satellites whose basic unit is a modular cube
measuring roughly 10 cm (4 inches) square per side. Each of the
InSight CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO), consisted of six
such units. The first CubeSats to be launched to another planet, they
relayed communications to Earth from InSight during its landing.

In February 2021 three missions arrived at Mars. The United Arab

Emirates orbiter Hope carried a camera and infrared and ultraviolet
spectrometers to study the Martian atmosphere. The Chinese
mission Tianwen-1 consisted of an orbiter and a small rover, Zhurong,
which landed on Mars on May 14. The American Mars 2020 mission
carried the Perseverance rover, which had a drill designed to collect
core samples that could be taken to Earth for analysis. Perseverance
landed on February 18 in Jezero crater near a dried-up river delta and
was designed to search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover
also carried a small helicopter, Ingenuity, which on April 19, 2021,
became the first machine to fly through the skies of another planet
when it ascended to a height of 3 metres (10 feet).
Ingenuity helicopter
Shadow of the Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars, image taken during the first flight of a
machine on another planet, April 19, 2021. Ingenuity used its navigation camera, which
autonomously tracks the ground during flight, to take the picture.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Future missions scheduled to arrive at Mars include the second part of
the ExoMars mission, the Rosalind Franklin rover. Rosalind
Franklin will arrive in 2023 and will carry a drill that can reach 2
metres (6 feet) underground to collect soil samples for onboard
analysis.
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