Only about 40 per cent of all missions to Mars — named after the Roman god of war — have succeeded. NASA’s Mariner 4 performed the first successfully flyby of the red planet in 1965, sending back 21 photos. After more launch failures and flight mishaps, the Soviets finally got a pair of spacecraft into Mars orbit in 1971 and got back real data. India, meanwhile, has been operating a satellite around Mars for four years, its first and only shot at the red planet. ——For AP’s complete coverage of the Mars landing: https://apnews.com/MarsLanding——The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.

Source: National Post November 23, 2018 17:48 UTC