Mars Explorati

on
The Mars Exploration Program
• Since our first close-up picture of Mars in 1965, spacecraft voyages to t
he Red Planet have revealed a world strangely familiar, yet different en
ough to challenge our perceptions of what makes a planet work. Every
time we feel close to understanding Mars, new discoveries send us stra
ight back to theories. You’d think Mars would be easier to understand.
• But over the past three decades, spacecraft have shown us that Mars is
rocky, cold, and sterile beneath its hazy, pink sky. We've discovered tha
t today's Martian wasteland hints at a formerly volatile world where v
olcanoes once raged, meteors plowed deep craters, and flash floods ru
shed over the land. And Mars continues to throw out new enticements
with each landing or orbital pass made by our spacecraft.
 Life on Mars?
• Among our discoveries about Mars,Waster is key because alm
ost everywhere we find water on Earth. we find Tife. If Mars o
nce had liquid water, or still does today, it's compelling to ask
whether any microscopic life forms could have developed on i
ts surface. Is there any evidence of life in the planet's past? If s
o, could any of these tiny living creatures still exist today? Ima
gine how exciting it would be to answer, "Yes! there one day.
• Meanwhile, we still have a lot to learn about this amazing pla
net and its extreme environments.
 Follow the Water ！
• To discover the possibilities for life on Mars-past, present or our own in the futur
e-the Mars Program has developed an exploration strategy known as "Follow the
Water." Following the water begins with an understanding of the currentenviron
ment on Mars. We want to explore observed features like dry riverbeds, ice in th
e polar caps and rock types that only form when water is present. We want to lo
ok for hot springs, hydrothermal vents or subsurface water reserves. We want to
understand if ancient Mars once held a vast ocean in the northern hemisphere a
s some scientists believe and how Mars may have transitioned from a more wate
ry environment to the dry and dusty climate it has today.
• Searching for these answers means delving into the planet's geologic and climate
history to find out how, when and why Mars underwent dramatic changes to bec
ome the forbidding, yet promising, planet we observe today.
Thanks