50 Years on Mars

G16 Lecture Theatre
Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London
 
Fifty years after the first lander touched down on Mars, robotic missions have transformed a distant red speck into a world rich with stories.
 
What began with early mission setbacks and grainy black‑and‑white images has evolved into autonomous navigation, subsurface scanning and, most recently, potential evidence of ancient bio-signatures.
 
The history of Mars exploration is one of extraordinary engineering paired with relentless scientific curiosity. Each rover has travelled farther, survived longer and revealed landscapes more complex than scientists could have ever imagined.
 
As we move toward a century of Martian exploration, what breakthroughs are on the horizon? And what should we be most excited about?
 
Imperial College London’s Dr Joel Davis reflects on the pivotal discoveries of the past 50 years, shares insights from the front line of Mars science, and explores the missions, technologies and questions set to shape humanity’s next era on the Red Planet.