Editing Space exploration (section)

===Mars===
{{Main|Exploration of Mars}}[[File:Spirit rover tracks.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Surface of Mars by the [[Mars Exploration Rover|''Spirit'' rover]] (2004)]]
The exploration of [[Mars]] has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union (later Russia), the United States, Europe, Japan and India. Dozens of [[robotic spacecraft]], including [[orbiter]]s, [[Lander (spacecraft)|landers]], and [[rover (space exploration)|rovers]], have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s. These missions were aimed at gathering data about current conditions and answering questions about the history of Mars. The questions raised by the scientific community are expected to not only give a better appreciation of the Red Planet but also yield further insight into the past, and possible future, of Earth.

The exploration of Mars has come at a considerable financial cost with roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars failing before completing their missions, with some failing before they even began. Such a high failure rate can be attributed to the complexity and large number of variables involved in an interplanetary journey, and has led researchers to jokingly speak of ''The Great Galactic Ghoul''<ref name="space-232">{{cite web |last=Dinerman |first=Taylor |url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/232/1 |title=Is the Great Galactic Ghoul losing his appetite? |work=The space review |date=27 September 2004 |access-date=27 March 2007 }}</ref> which subsists on a diet of Mars probes. This phenomenon is also informally known as the "[[Mars Curse]]".<ref name="cnn-20061223">{{cite news |last=Knight |first=Matthew |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/23/mwonders.mars/index.html |title=Beating the curse of Mars |work=Science & Space |access-date=27 March 2007 }}</ref> In contrast to overall high failure rates in the exploration of Mars, [[India]] has become the first country to achieve success of its maiden attempt. India's [[Mars Orbiter Mission]] (MOM)<ref>{{cite news |date=24 September 2014 |title=India becomes first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, joins elite global space club |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/india-is-the-first-asian-nation-to-touch-mars-orbit-joins-elite-global-space-club/2014/09/23/b6bc6992-a432-4f1e-87ad-5d6fc4da3460_story.html |access-date=24 September 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote=India became the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet when its indigenously made unmanned spacecraft entered the orbit of Mars on Wednesday.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/23/world/asia/mars-india-orbiter/index.html |title=India's spacecraft reaches Mars orbit ... and history |work=CNN |date=24 September 2014 |access-date= |quote=India's Mars Orbiter Mission successfully entered Mars' orbit Wednesday morning, becoming the first nation to arrive on its first attempt and the first Asian country to reach the Red Planet. |last = Park|first = Madison }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20140924-GH">{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Gardiner |title=On a Shoestring, India Sends Orbiter to Mars on Its First Try |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/world/asia/on-a-shoestring-india-sends-orbiter-to-mars.html |date=24 September 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=25 September 2014 }}</ref> is one of the least expensive interplanetary missions ever undertaken with an approximate total cost of {{INR}} 450 [[Crore]] ({{US$|73 million}}).<ref name="ibtimes20131105">{{cite news |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.in/india-successfully-launches-first-mission-to-mars-pm-congratulates-isro-team-photos-519719 |title=India Successfully Launches First Mission to Mars; PM Congratulates ISRO Team |work=[[International Business Times]] |date=5 November 2013 |access-date=13 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="ndtv20131105">{{cite news |url=http://www.ndtv.com/article/cheat-sheet/india-s-450-crore-mission-to-mars-to-begin-today-10-facts-441410 |title=India's 450-crore mission to Mars to begin today: 10 facts |work=[[NDTV]] |first=Abhinav |last=Bhatt |date=5 November 2013 |access-date=13 October 2014}}</ref> The first mission to Mars by any Arab country has been taken up by the United Arab Emirates. Called the [[Emirates Mars Mission]], it was launched on 19 July 2020 and went into orbit around Mars on 9 February 2021. The uncrewed exploratory probe was named "Hope Probe" and was sent to Mars to study its atmosphere in detail.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hope Mars Probe |url=http://mbrsc.ae/en/page/mars-probe |publisher=Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre |website=mbrsc.ae |access-date=22 July 2016 |archive-date=25 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725185416/http://mbrsc.ae/en/page/mars-probe |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Phobos ====
{{Main|Exploration of Phobos}}
The Russian space mission [[Fobos-Grunt]], which launched on 9 November 2011, experienced a failure leaving it stranded in [[low Earth orbit]].<ref name="noburn">{{cite web |url=http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Nov-2011/0069.html |title=Phobos-Grunt – serious problem reported |first=Ted |last=Molczan |publisher=[[SeeSat-L]] |date=9 November 2011 |access-date=9 November 2011 }}</ref> It was to begin exploration of the [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]] and Martian circumterrestrial orbit, and study whether the moons of Mars, or at least Phobos, could be a "trans-shipment point" for spaceships traveling to Mars.<ref name="yt-W0cUvK0Dgy8">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0cUvK0Dgy8 |title=Project Phobos-Grunt |publisher=YouTube |date=22 August 2006 |access-date=24 May 2012 }}</ref><!-- Remove groundless conjecture: It will study Phobos as a target of colonization, too.{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}-->