The $300 million Mars Express, the first fully European mission sent to any planet, will try to find out if there is, or ever was, life on Mars.
We wish it well, but.......20 of the 30 previous missions to Mars have been less than successful.
Previous chronology:-
1964
• Mariner 3, U.S. - November 5 - Attempted Mars fly-by, craft failed to attain proper trajectory.

• Mariner 4, U.S. - November 28 - First successful Mars fly-by in July 1965. The craft returned the first pictures of the Martian surface.

• Zond 2, USSR - November 30 - Mars fly-by. Contact lost in May 1965. Closest approach August 1965.

1969
• Mariner 6, U.S. - February 25 - Mars fly-by, sent back images of Mars.

• Mariner 7, U.S. - March 27 - Mars fly-by, sent back images of Mars.

1971
• Mariner 8, U.S. - May 8 - Attempted Mars fly-by. Failed after launch.

• Mars 2, USSR - May 19 - Mars orbiter/lander. Reached Mars in November; lander crashed but orbiter sent back images and data of planet.

• Mars 3, USSR - May 28 - Mars orbiter/lander. Reached Mars in December; lander stopped transmitting soon after touchdown; orbiter sent back images and data.

• Mariner 9, U.S. - May 30 - Mars orbiter. Reached Mars in November, provided global mapping of the Martian surface and studied changes in the atmosphere. Completes final transmission in October 1972.

1973
• Mars 4, USSR - July 21 - Mars fly-by, attempted Mars orbiter, reached Mars February 1974. Failed to achieve Mars orbit and flew by the planet, but sent back some pictures.

• Mars 5, USSR - July 25 - Mars orbiter, reached Mars February 1974 and collected data for 22 orbits.

• Mars 6, USSR - August 5 - Mars lander. Reached Mars March, 1974, but contact was lost minutes after lander entered Martian atmosphere.

• Mars 7, USSR - August 9 - Mars fly-by. Reached Mars March, 1974. Lander separated early and missed the planet.

1975
• Viking 1, U.S. - August 20 - Mars orbiter and lander, reached Mars June 1976. Orbiter imaged Martian surface. Lander sent back images of surface, took surface samples.

• Viking 2, U.S. - September 9 - Mars orbiter and lander, reached Mars August 1976. Orbiter imaged Martian surface. Lander sent back images of surface, took surface samples.

1992
• Mars Observer, U.S. - September 25 - Mars orbiter. Contact lost in August 1993, three days before scheduled insertion into Martian orbit.

1996
• Mars Global Surveyor - November 7 - Mars orbiter, reached Mars in September 1997, and began mapping the planet, showing signs of huge chasm on the planet and a giant dust storm.

• Mars 96, Russia - November 16 - Mars orbiter/landers. Re-entered Earth's atmosphere just over a day after launch.

• Mars Pathfinder - December 4 - Mars lander and rover. Landed on Mars July 4, 1997, in the most-watched space event ever. The Mars lander sent back thousands of images, and its Sojourner Rover roamed the surface, sending back 550 images.

1998
• Mars Climate Orbiter - December 11 1998 - Destroyed on entry in September 1999 because of human error stemming from engineers using two sets of measurements - one using miles and the other kilometers.

1999
• Mars Polar Lander - January 3 1999 - Contact lost December 3 following presumed crash landing.

2001
• Odyssey - April 7 - Arrived around Mars October 24 to detect water and shallow buried ice and to study environment. It can also act as a communications relay for future Mars landers.