Facts about the Mars rover Sojourner and its newer replacements Spirit and Opportunity show that preliminary research on the red planet can be conducted very efficiently by robotic vehicles. These missions are relatively inexpensive compared to other experiments but have garnered many advances.

The Mars Science Laboratory Rover, known as Curiosity, is NASA’s next major mission to the Martian surface. Scheduled for a two-year exploration to begin in 2012, Curiosity seeks to find evidence of past or present life. The mission is the next step following Spirit and Opportunity.