Beyond the Mars Science Laboratory and MAVEN Missions

NASA is developing a long-term Mars exploration program that charts a course for the next decades. This visionary program will build on scientific discoveries from past missions and incorporate the lessons learned from previous missions.

ARCHIVED: These proposed missions are not currently in the plan for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. The following is provided for informational purposes.

ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter

Overview
The ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter mission was a joint mission proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. This mission was proposed as the first in a series of joint missions to Mars for ESA and NASA. The two space agencies signed the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative agreement in 2009. Under the former proposed plan, NASA would have supplied the launch vehicle, four science instruments, and a communications system. This joint mission is not currently in NASA's Mars Exploration Program plans. See information on ESA's ExoMars mission: http://exploration.esa.int/.


Mars 2018 Mission

Overview
NASA's Mars 2018 Mission was a proposed solar-powered rover mission that would have carried with it the European Space Agency's (ESA's) ExoMars rover.
The goal of the formerly proposed NASA rover was to collect and cache samples of interest for a potential return to Earth by a future mission. It would have studied rocks to look for scientifically exciting samples, including those that might have the potential to have preserved signs of past life on Mars. It was designed to collect a few dozen such samples from several locations near its landing site. To collect the rock samples, the rover would have used coring tools. Once it collected and sealed the samples in canisters, the rover would driven to a safe location and placed the canisters for possible later pick-up by a future mission with a "fetch" rover.

Updated: February 2012