Though there was a lull in missions afterward, space agencies around the world continued to make attempts at robotic exploration of Mars during the 1980s and 1990s. On July 4, 1997, NASA landed its first probe on Mars in two decades — the Pathfinder lander and its adorable tiny rover, Sojourner, according to The Planetary Society. These were followed by many orbiters and landers, including the twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit, which conducted investigations from 2004 to 2018 and 2019, respectively. Finding liquid water could make the Red Planet habitable- good enough to live on. And with billionaire businessmen like Elon Musk planning manned missions to space, who knows how long it could be before we see a human on Mars? Project engineers and scientists will now put Perseverance through its paces, testing every instrument, subsystem, and subroutine over the next month or two. Only then will they deploy the helicopter to the surface for the flight test phase. If successful, Ingenuity could add an aerial dimension to exploration of the Red Planet in which such helicopters serve as a scouts or make deliveries for future astronauts away from their base.

Mars: Facts - NASA Science

Since the 1960s, humans have set out to discover what Mars can teach us about how planets grow and evolve, and whether it has ever hosted alien life. So far, only uncrewed spacecraft have made the trip to the red planet, but that could soon change. NASA is hoping to land the first humans on Mars by the 2030s—and several new missions are launching before then to push exploration forward. Here’s a look at why these journeys are so important—and what humans have learned about Mars through decades of exploration. Why explore Mars Because Mars is visible with the naked eye in Earth's night sky, many ancient civilizations noticed and named it. The ancient Romans named the planet Mars after the Roman god of war, according to NASA, because they associated the planet's blood-red color with conflict and battles. In 1976, NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 became the first spacecraft to successfully operate on the planet’s surface, returning photos until 1982. They also conducted biological experiments on Martian soil that were designed to uncover signs of life in space—but their results were inconclusive, and scientists still disagree over how to interpret the data. Mars’ atmosphere is composed primarily of carbon dioxide (about 96 percent), with minor amounts of other gases such as argon and nitrogen. The atmosphere is very thin, however, and the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars is only about 0.6 percent of Earth’s (101,000 pascals).And from all that we have learned from astrobiology, life is amazingly adaptable, but it still needs water. So that’s why water is the key. So, finding liquid water on Mars, whether or not it’s now or whether or not it’s in the past, tells you that you potentially have a habitableenvironment, some place that could support life and perhaps even Martian life.

All About Mars | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids All About Mars | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

Well, that all depends on finding water. Water is life, and as Dr Meyer told BBC World Service’s, The Forum, with water anything is possible.The field of Astrobiology saw a resurgence due to the controversy surrounding the possible fossil life in the ALH84001 meteorite, and from the outsized public response to this announcement, and subsequent interest from Congress and the White House, NASA’s Astrobiology Program was formed.