Mars is the fourth planet of our solar system, it is a telluric planet, that is say that like the Earth its surface is solid.
Since ancient times, Mars has attracted the attention of humanity thanks to its red color, and it is in reference to the god of war Ares that the planet was named Mars ( translation of Ares in Latin)
In the 16th century Tycho Brake observed Mars with naked eye and noted with precision the movements of the planet.
At the beginning of the 17th century, Johannesburg Kepler studied mathematically the displacement of Mars and deduced that the trajectory of the planet is strongly elliptical.
The fact that the trajectory of Mars is very elliptical makes that observation of this planet is optimal every 2 years and 2 months at the time of the oppositions, i.e, at the time of the maximum approach with the Earth.
It was in 1610, in Italy, that Galileo Galilei observed the red planet for the first time with a telescope.
In 1659, Christiaan Huygens made the first drawing of Mars by identifying spots at the pole and the equator.
As early as 1773, William Herschel noticed while observing Mars through a telescope that the red planet had many similarities with the Earth ( notably the existence of seasons)
In 1877, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli took advantage of strong opposition to study the details of the Martian surface.
In 1947, Gerard KUIPER detects the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars .
In the 1950s, B. Lyot and A. Dollfus determined the water content of the atmosphere of Mars.
MARTIAN MISSIONS:
In 1962, the Soviet Union sent a probe to Mars but it did not transmit any data.
On July 15, 1965, the Americans received 21 pictures of the southern hemisphere of Mars sent by their probe MARINER 4 . If the mission is a success, the disappointment is great because Mars looks more like the Moon than the Earth and no Martian presence is detected.
The Americans and the Soviets will send other probes which will allow to obtain a lot of information on the red planet but it will be necessary to wait for the VIKING MISSIONS to land on the Martian soil and map Mars. These missions will also highlight the major role of water in the history of the Red Planet.
Other missions will take place but alas, the success will not be there and it will be necessary to wait for the missions PATHFINDER and MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR launched in 1996 to obtain new information.
The SPIRIT and OPPORTUNITY rovers have sent a lot of information and OPPORTUNITY has continued its mission until 2019( setting a record of 42 kilometers on Mars)
The PERSEVERANCE rover and the first Martian helicopter: INGENUITY are sending us today extraordinary informations and images .
In 2026, the « Mars Sample Return »campaign should allow us to bring back to Earth the samples from PERSEVERANCE in order to learn more about the Red Planet and of course, we are looking forward to the first manned mission.
