In terms of temperature, Mars is freezing. But as a destination, the Red Planet is red hot. The United States, China, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) all recently launched missions to Earth’s second-closest planetary neighbor.
The U.S. is attempting its ninth successful Mars landing. China is making its first solo trip there. And the U.A.E.’s effort is the first interplanetary mission by any Arab country. All three probes are expected to arrive in February.
The countries launched their spacecraft within days of each other, during a short window in which Mars and Earth are closest together. This window, which only occurs every 26 months, offers the fastest trip between the planets.
The U.S. will use a car-sized rover to explore a crater scientists think once held a lake. The rover will also try to extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere—a feat that could make it easier for humans to one day live on Mars.
Orbiters from the U.A.E. and China will circle the planet for one Martian year—687 Earth days.
The U.A.E. will document Mars’s climate, while China will study the Martian atmosphere. China will also use a rover to investigate ice on the planet’s surface.
All these missions could help propel future Mars exploration, experts say. “There are people who talk about someday having a million-person city on Mars,” says John M. Logsdon of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. “These are three small steps towards that kind of future destiny.”