Life on Mars If the surface life has been reanimated as recently as 450,000 years ago, then rovers on Mars could find dormant but still viable life at a depth of one meter below the surface, according to an estimate. In 1965, the Mariner 4 probe discovered that Mars had no global magnetic field that would protect the planet from potentially life-threatening cosmic radiation and solar radiation; observations made in the late 1990s by the Mars Global Surveyor confirmed this discovery. Scientists speculate that the lack of magnetic shielding helped the solar wind blow away much of Mars's atmosphere over the course of
Space probe Transport Network. First man-made object to soft land on the Moon, or any other extra terrestrial surface. First mission to photograph the far side of the Moon, launched in 1959. First robotic sample return probe from the Moon. First rover on Moon. It was sent to the Moon on November 10, 1970. First probe to Mercury. First successful in-place analysis of another planet. It may have also been the first space probe to impact the surface of another planet, although it is unclear whether it reached Venus' surface. The Venera 7 probe was the first spacecraft to successfully soft land