On this day in space! Nov. 7, 1992: NASA launches Mars Global Surveyor, its 1st Mars mission in 20 years at the time, to map the Red Planet like never before

NASA successfully launched the Mars Global Surveyor on November 7, 1996, marking the first Martian exploration mission in two decades. This ambitious endeavor aimed to comprehensively map the surface of Mars with unprecedented detail and resolution. The spacecraft utilized a suite of sophisticated instruments including cameras and spectrometers to gather data about the planet’s geology and atmosphere. Scientists hoped this detailed mapping would significantly advance our understanding of Mars’ formation and evolution. Data collected by the Mars Global Surveyor contributed substantially to subsequent robotic missions exploring the Red Planet.