MISSIONS TO MARS

摘要

This presentation started with a historical perspective of the astronomical discovery of Mars and followed by an overview of previous missions to Mars by the United States and the Soviet Union. Recently launched missions, such as Nozomi, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey were addressed in more detailed, as well as a few other missions soon to be launched. Among these, Mars Express is particularly relevant as the first European mission towards the red planet, and the talk concentrated on it, including both the Mars Express orbiter spacecraft and the Beagle-2 lander to be launched in 2003.