A Short History of Mars Exploration

This morning's / last night's big NASA news is of course the successful landing of  NASA's Mars Curiosity rover. It took eight months for the rover to get to Mars, but the history of Mars exploration is much longer. To help readers get a sense of the history and development of Mars exploration, the Guardian has published a small interactive timeline of Mars exploration.

Mars Exploration Since 1964 is a timeline shaped as an orbit of Mars. Clicking on the dots along the orbit reveals a picture and some brief information about Mars exploration.

CNN offers a slideshow that explores the modern history of Mars exploration.

NASA Explores the Red Planet is also a must-bookmark for all things Mars. On NASA Explores the Red Planet you will find animations, videos, and graphics all about NASA's explorations of Mars.