The inhospitable atmosphere and violent climate on Mars have not prevented numerous space probes and orbiters from visiting the planet over the last 50 years, their data-gathering abilities growing ever more sophisticated. From the successful Mariner and Viking programs of the 1960s and 1970s, to human missions being planned today, Rod Pyle charts the history of Martian exploration, lists the key scientific discoveries made and presents striking images of the Red Planet from space and from the surface.