Mars Global Surveyor: mission and targets

Project start

October 12, 1994

Declared end

November 14, 2006

The start the archive declares is the start of the project, not the launch, and an end it does not declare does not mean the mission is still running.

Targets you can open in 3D:

• Mars
• Phobos
• Sun

A declared target is what the archive files the mission’s data under, not a record of observation.

Mars Global Surveyor was an orbiting spacecraft that looped around the Red Planet for a decade. The mission overhauled scientists' understanding of Mars by studying the entire Martian surface, atmosphere, and interior. Major findings included dramatic evidence that water still flows on Mars in short bursts down hillside gullies, and the identification of water-related mineral deposits leading to selection of a Mars rover landing site for a subsequent mission. The mission continued sending images and other data until November 2006, when it went silent due to a series of events linked to a computer error likely caused by battery failure.

Quoted in English, as the archive publishes it, read on October 4, 2026.

Identifier in the archive, which is its citation: urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.mars_global_surveyor

NASA Planetary Data System, PDS Registry, investigation context products. Dates and targets read on September 29, 2026; how to cite the archive: https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/citing/

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