Mars Madness

Mars is fascinating, so fascinating that FiveThirtyEight is spending a whole month just writing about it. Given that it’s March Madness — and given humanity’s longstanding tradition of hurling robots and cameras at Mars with varying degrees of success, you know, like a free throw — we wanted to figure out the winner of the ultimate Martian bracket.

Seeds and such come later, but for now, merely select the cooler Mars mission or landmark:

Which is the cooler mission or landmark?

Battle: : Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005)

In orbit since 2006, the orbirter uses the most powerful camera and spectrometer ever sent to Mars to monitor Martian weather and find potential landing spots for other spacecraft.

Mariner 4 (1964)

Got 21 pictures and confirmed the existence of a Martian atmosphere. Successful flyby.

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