12 stunning images from past Mars missions gallery
First signals (Mariner 4, 1966) NASA’s 10-part Mariner program (1962-1973) aimed to look at the surfaces Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Mariner 4 became the first successful Mars flyby in 1964. It took 22 photos of the red planet, each of which took 10 hours to relay back to Earth! (NASA/)The first photo from the surface of Mars (Viking 1, 1976) July 20, 1976 marks the first time an operational spacecraft landed on Mars and completed its mission. (The first operational spacecraft to land on Mars was the Soviet Union’s Mars 3 that stopped transmitting after 14.5 seconds.) Viking 1 was a stationary lander, and operated for 2,307 earth days taking photos that helped us better understand the planet’s surface and atmosphere. (NASA/)The first rover (Sojourner, 1997) Landing on July 4, 1997, Sojourner accompanied the Pathfinder lander to Mars and became the first wheeled vehicle to rove another planet. Though its mission was only...