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NASA's interest in the Red Planet began soon after it
was established in 1958. The very fi rst mission, Mariner
4 (1965), simply fl ew by Mars, taking as many pictures
as possible on its way past. As knowledge and
technologies grew, NASA started putting spacecraft in
orbit around the planet for long-term global studies.
Then, with even more capabilities, NASA spacecraft
began to land on the surface, beginning with Viking 1
& 2 (1976). With rovers such as Sojourner (1997), Spirit
and Opportunity (2004), and Curiosity (2012), real treks
across the planet's surface became possible.
For earlier missions, understanding Mars as a potential
habitat for microbial life began with a strategy
of "follow the water." Orbiters, landers, and rovers
provided numerous signs of past or present water on
Mars. Mars Science Laboratory, with its rover Curiosity,
is the latest and most ambitious mission in NASA's
Mars Exploration Program. It takes a leap forward in
beginning NASA's current Mars exploration strategy:
"Seek Signs of Life." In the fi rst year of its mission,
Curiosity discovered that Gale Crater once had the
right conditions to provide a habitat for microbial life,
including the past presence of long-term surface
water and at least six key chemical elements that are
fundamental chemical building blocks of life.
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