Ares Program

The Ares human missions to Mars were a series of human missions proposed by NASA. The original Ares mission plan consisted of 5 scientific human missions, with a sixth mission in planning. Vincent Kapoor was the director of the Ares Program.

Ares I
Ares I was the first mission in the Ares program. It landed the first humans to walk on Mars, and it also allowed human controlled tests to be carried out on the planet by hand for the first time in history. All crew members of the Ares I mission returned to Earth safely.

Ares II
Ares II was the second mission in the Ares program. Much like it's predecessor, it landed astronauts on Mars to conduct scientific experiments. All crew members of the Ares II mission returned to Earth safely.

Ares III
Ares III was the third mission in the Ares program. Similar to the previous two missions, Ares III main goal was to analyze geological features of Mars and return samples to Earth for experimentation. Ares III was the mission where astronaut Mark Watney was stranded on the planet, and was assumed to be dead. To read more, click here or here.

Ares IV
Ares IV was the fourth mission in the Ares program. Ares IV was delayed two years because of Mark Watney's premature launch of Ares IV's MAV to the Hermes, they had to send a new MAV with a robotic Hermes run. The mission's goals were like the first three missions but they also studied the rovers of Watney's rescue.

Ares V
Ares V was the fifth mission to Mars, but the fifth mission in the Ares program. Much like the previous missions, it's goal was to conduct experiments on the planet's surface with six astronauts. Ares V was the first time where an astronaut, Rick Martinez, returned to the planet's surface for a second time.

Ares VI
Ares VI was the sixth mission to Mars, but the sixth mission in the Ares program. Ares VI was brought forward by Vincent Kapoor to NASA's director Teddy Sanders to deliver more satellites to Mars' orbit. Ares VI was not supposed to be a human mission. In preparation for Ares VII the Hermes was de-orbited and replaced with the new vessel Olympus.

Ares VII
Ares VII was the seventh and the last mission to the planets surface. This mission was intended to spend the most time on Mars having a spend of one hundred twenty days or three months. This missions site was stationed on the rim of Heimdal crater with the centre of the crater three miles away.