This image shows a portion of the Martian terrain and the forward ramp of the Mars Pathfinder lander. Click on image for full size version (40K GIF) Image from: JPL/NASA

The program was suppose to consist of spacecraft that would be launched about every 26 months. The spacecraft were named: Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars '98, Mars 2001, Mars 2003, and Mars 2005. The Pathfinder mission was a huge success. And the Mars Global Surveyor is still taking measurements. However, the Mars '98 Orbiter and Lander were lost. After this great loss, NASA saw a need to rethink Mars exploration. This concluded the Mars Surveyor Program.

In 2000, a new Mars Exploration Program was announced. This new program includes the Mars Odyssey 2001 mission which was launched in April 2001. It also provides for five other major Mars missions in the next decade. NASA plans to launch twin rovers which will land on Mars in 2003 and a powerful scientific orbiter to be launched in 2005. A mobile science laboratory and the first of several smaller Scout missions are planned for 2007. Wrapping up this phase of exploration would be a sample return mission possibly as early as 2011. A sample return mission is where rocks and dirt would be brought back to Earth from the surface of Mars. Cool!