There will be two attempts to land on Mars in 2021 – by Nasa and the China National Space Administration.
Nasa’s Perseverance is scheduled to touch down on the Martian surface on 18 February.
If successful, it will be the biggest and most sophisticated vehicle ever sent to land on another planet.
China’s Tianwen-1 will attempt a similar feat in May or June.
The US and the former Soviet Union are the only countries to successfully land on the Red Planet, though more have sent spacecraft to enter Mars’ orbit.
Science reporter Laura Foster looks back at 60 years of successes and failures.
This article was originally published by Bbc.co.uk. Read the original article here.