Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed "Curiosity", a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigating Mars' habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for a manned mission to Mars. The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments designed by an international team. MSL successfully carried out the most accurate Martian landing of any known spacecraft, hitting a small target landing ellipse of only , in the Aeolis Palus region of Gale Crater.
Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover The Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover (HX-1) is a planned project by China to deploy an orbiter and rover on Mars. The mission is planned to be launched in July or August 2020 with a Long March 5 heavy lift rocket. Its stated objective is to search for evidence of both current and past life, and assessing the planet's environment. China's Mars program started in 2009 in a partnership with Russia. However, the Russian spacecraft Fobos-Grunt carrying a Chinese orbiter Yinghuo-1 crashed on 15 January 2012, days after lift-off.