Attempted Missions to Mars
| Date | Mission | Country | Result |
| Oct. 10, 1960 | Korabl 4 | USSR (1) | Failed in Earth orbit |
| Oct. 14, 1960 | Korabl 5 | USSR (2) | Failed in Earth orbit |
| Oct. 24, 1962 | Korabl 11 | USSR (3) | Failed to leave Earth orbit |
| Nov. 1, 1962 | Mars 1 | USSR (4) | Lost communications Mar. 21, 1963 |
| Nov. 4, 1962 | Korabl 13 | USSR (5) | Failed in Earth orbit, reentered Nov. 5 |
| Nov. 5, 1964 | Mariner 3 | USA (1) | Launch failure, entered solar orbit |
| Nov. 28, 1964 | Mariner 4 | USA (2) | Reached Mars July 15, photographs and atmospheric measurements |
| Nov. 30, 1964 | Zond 2 | USSR (6) | Lost communications May 1965 |
| July 18, 1965 | Zond 3 | USSR (7) | Photographed Moon, reached Mars orbit |
| Feb. 24, 1969 | Mariner 6 | USA (3) | Flyby July 31; successful mission |
| Mar. 27, 1969 | Mariner 7 | USA (4) | Flyby Aug. 5; successful mission |
| Mar. 27, 1969 | none | USSR (8) | Failed; believed launch failure |
| Apr. 14, 1969 | none | USA (5) | Failed |
| May 8, 1971 | Mariner 8 | USA (6) | Failed to reach orbit |
| May 10, 1971 | Kosmos 419 | USSR (9) | Failed to leave Earth orbit; reentered May 10 |
| May 19, 1971 | Mars 2 | USSR (10) | Orbited Mars; descent module crashed Nov. 27 |
| May 28, 1971 | Mars 3 | USSR (11) | Orbited Mars; descent module failed upon landing Dec. 2 |
| May 30, 1971 | Mariner 9 | USA (7) | Orbited Mars Nov. 13; successful mission |
| July 21, 1973 | Mars 4 | USSR (12) | Failed to orbit, flew by Feb. 10 |
| July 25, 1973 | Mars 5 | USSR (13) | Entered orbit of Mars Feb. 12; partially successful mission |
| Aug. 5, 1973 | Mars 6 | USSR (14) | Flyby; descent module communications failure just before landing Mar. 12 |
| Aug. 9, 1973 | Mars 7 | USSR (15) | Failed, flew by Mar. 9 |
| Aug. 20, 1975 | Viking 1 | USA (8) | Orbited 1976 June 19; landed July 20 |
| Sept. 5, 1975 | Viking 2 | USA (9) | Orbited 1976 Aug. 7; landed Sept. 3 |
| Aug. 5, 1988 | Phobos 1 | USSR (16) | Lost contact Aug. 31 |
| Aug. 9, 1988 | Phobos 2 | USSR (17) | Orbited Mars 1989 Jan. 29; lost contact Mar. 27 |
| Sept. 25, 1992 | Mars Observer | USA (10) | Lost contact Aug. 21, 1993 |
| November 7, 1996 | Mars Global Surveyor | USA, (11) | Entering Mars orbit Sept 11, 1997, begins mapping planet mid-March 1999 (this is one year later than originally scheduled due to a mechanical problem) |
| November 16, 1996 | Mars 96 | Russia (18) | Failed orbit insertion, fell to Earth November 18 |
| December 4, 1996 | Mars Pathfinder | USA (12) | Landed July 4, 1997 |
Mars Missions, 1960-1997
| Country | Missions Attempted | Successes | Failures | Percent of Success |
| USSR (Russia) | 18 |
2 |
16 |
11% |
| USA | 12 |
8 |
4 |
67% |