Project Ares

**Project Ares,** also known as the **International** **Ares Mars program,** was an international human spaceflight program carried out by a collaboration of space agencies represented by China (CNSA), the European Space Agency (France, Germany, and Italy), India (ISRO), Japan (JAXA), Russia (RSA), United Kingdom (UKSA), and the United States (NASA), which succeeded in preparing and landing the first humans on Mars from 1995 to 2013. Several components were developed by American corporations like Vega Aerospace. It was first conceived in 1985 during President William Morgan's administration as a collaboration between over two dozen nations to follow the United States and Germany's Space Race. Ares was the first space project to be conducted as an international collaboration.

In 1987, an international committee was formed to explore the possibility of a crewed mission to the planet Mars by 2000. The year after, an international Mars mission became a campaign issue for the United States presidential candidates running at the time. By 1995, a crew had been selected and a six-month training phase had begun. The crew of twelve were launched onboard the Space Shuttle Challenger with NLS-72-B which denoted the fiscal year of launch (1997), the second launch facility in California (2) and the second launch of the year (B) on February 22, 1996. Ares M-5 departed Earth orbit on March 7, 1996 and carried out a gravitational slingshot around the planet Venus on August 15, 1996 (the closest approach for a human-rated craft in over twenty years) with a Mars Orbital Insertion on February 20, 1997 before returning to Earth in December 21, 1997.

Ares set several major human spaceflight milestones, it stood as the third crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit. Ares M-4 was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit another planet, and the mission was also the first crewed spacecraft to land humans on one.

## List of missions

* Ares M-1: Uncrewed test flight, launched February 1995.
* Ares M-2: Uncrewed test flight, launched June 1995.
* Ares M-3: Uncrewed test flight, launched October 1995.
* Ares M-4: First crewed landing on the planet Mars, launched from Earth in 1996, landed in 1997, and returned later that year.
	+ One of the crewmembers was Martin Sawyer, son of Wally Sawyer (the second human to set foot on the Moon).
* Ares M-5: Second crewed landing on the planet Mars, launched from Earth in 1997, landed in 1998, and returned in 1999.
* Ares M-6: Third crewed landing on the planet Mars, launched from Earth in 1998, landed in 1999, and returned in 2000.
* Ares M-7: Fourth crewed landing on the planet Mars, launched from Earth in 1999, landed in 2000, and returned in 2001.
* Ares M-8: Fifth crewed landing on the planet Mars, launched from Earth in 2000, landed in 2001, and returned in 2002.
	+ In 2000, the development of a second phase of Ares M-series spacecraft were developed reducing the travel time to Mars by nearly a quarter. After this, four Ares missions were launched per year.
* Ares M-9: Launched Spring 2001, landed in Summer 2001, returned late 2001.
	+ Six-month service obligations on Mars become the norm, at least renewable once.
* Ares M-10: Launched Summer 2001.
* Ares M-11: Launched Fall 2001.
* Ares M-12: Launched Winter 2001.
* Ares M-13: Launched Spring 2002.
* Ares M-14: Launched Summer 2002.
* Ares M-15: Launched Fall 2002.
* Ares M-16: Launched Winter 2002.
* Ares M-17: Launched Spring 2003.
	+ Third phase of Ares M-series spacecraft.
* Ares M-18: Launched Summer 2003.
* Ares M-19: Launched Fall 2003.
* Ares M-20: Launched Winter 2003.
* Ares M-21: Launched Spring 2004.
* Ares M-22: Launched Summer 2004.
* Ares M-23: Launched Fall 2004.
* Ares M-24: Launched Winter 2004.
* Ares M-25: Launched Spring 2005.
	+ Fourth phase of Ares M-series spacecraft.
* Ares M-26: Launched Summer 2005.
* Ares M-27: Launched Fall 2005.
* Ares M-28: Launched Winter 2005.
* Ares M-29: Launched Spring 2006.
* Ares M-30: Launched Summer 2006.
* Ares M-31: Launched Fall 2006.
* Ares M-32: Launched Winter 2006.
* Ares M-33: Launched Spring 2007.
	+ Fifth phase of Ares M-series spacecraft.
* Ares M-34: Launched Summer 2007.
* Ares M-35: Launched Fall 2007.
* Ares M-36: Launched Winter 2007.
* Ares M-37: Launched Spring 2008.
* Ares M-38: Launched Summer 2008.
* Ares M-39: Launched Fall 2008.
* Ares M-40: Launched Winter 2008.
* Ares M-41: Launched Spring 2009.
	+ Sixth phase of Ares M-series spacecraft.
* Ares M-42: Launched Summer 2009.
* Ares M-43: Launched Fall 2009.
* Ares M-44: Launched Winter 2009.
* Ares M-45: Launched Spring 2010.
* Ares M-46: Launched Summer 2010.
* Ares M-47: Launched Fall 2010.
* Ares M-48: Launched Winter 2010.
* Ares M-49: Launched Spring 2011.
	+ Seventh phase of Ares M-series spacecraft.
* Ares M-50: Launched Summer 2011.
* Ares M-51: Launched Fall 2011.
* Ares M-52: Launched Winter 2011.
* Ares M-53: Launched Spring 2012.
* Ares M-54: Launched Summer 2012.
* Ares M-55: Launched Fall 2012.
* Ares M-56: Launched Winter 2012, returned Winter 2013.

## Ares M-4

### Ares M-4 Crew Composition

1. Mission Commander: (United States)
2. Mission Pilot: (ESA- France)
3. Glider Pilot: (Russia)
4. Glider Co-Pilot: (United States)
5. Lander Pilot #1: Martin Sawyer (United States)
6. Lander Pilot #2: (China)
7. Mission Chief Scientist: (Russia)
8. Mission Science Specialist #1: (India)
9. Mission Science Specialist #2: (United Kingdom)
10. Mission Science Specialist #3: (Germany)
11. Mission Science Specialist #4: (United States)
12. Mission Science Specialist #5: (Japan)