Mapping Mars: Where Have All the Landers Gone? [Interactive]
The first man-made object to land on Mars arrived 40 years ago this month, and NASA's Curiosity rover should soon depart for the Red Planet. Here is a look at where humankind's many Mars landers have touched down, and where the planet betrays a history of all-important liquid water. Find out more in Exploring the Red Planet
Sources: "Martian gullies in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars: Evidence for climate-controlled formation of young fluvial features based upon local and global topography," by James L. Dickson et al., in Icarus, Vol. 188, pages 315–323, 2007 (gully clusters); "Updated Global Map of Martian Valley Networks: Implications for Hydrologic Processes," by B. M. Hynek et al., in Second Workshop on Mars Valley Networks, 2008 (valley networks); "Ice, Salt and Warm-Season Flows on Mars," a NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/UA/LANL/MSSS map, 2011 (seasonal markings); "Radar Sounding Evidence for Buried Glaciers in the Southern Mid-Latitudes of Mars," by John W. Holt et al., in Science, Vol. 322, Nov. 21, 2008 (buried glacier).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
John Matson is a former reporter and editor for Scientific American who has written extensively about astronomy and physics. Follow John Matson on Twitter
