The Tenth International Conference on Mars

Conference Dates and Location

The Tenth International Conference on Mars is scheduled for July 22–25, 2024, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.

Purpose and Scope

Beginning with the Mariner 4 flyby in July 1965, nearly 60 years of robotic exploration of Mars will have transpired by the time of the Tenth International Conference on Mars. With improved spacecraft and instrument longevity making extended missions feasible, the last two decades have enjoyed a continuous orbital and surface presence on the Red Planet.

The Mars science and engineering communities have produced a wealth of new and intriguing developments since the Ninth International Conference on Mars in 2019. Together, we have seen:

• The release of the National Academies Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, Origins, Worlds and Life, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Draft Future Plan, and ESA’s Terrae Novae 2030+ strategic roadmap highlighting plans for Mars exploration.
• The arrival of three new missions on Mars. (Hope, Perseverance/Ingenuity, Tianwen-1/Zhurong)
• Successful sample collection, caching, and depot construction by the Perseverance rover and many dozens of flights of the Ingenuity helicopter
• The InSight lander’s extended mission of geophysical data collection, filling a knowledge gap in basic planetary models
• Extended Curiosity and Zhurong rover assessments of the role of water in shaping the ancient Mars landscape
• A copious data harvest and long-term orbital monitoring from NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN orbiter, ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, UAE’s Hope orbiter, ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission, and CNSA’s Tianwen-1 orbiter
• Discoveries from Earth-based studies of Martian meteorites, ground-based observing, laboratory and analog efforts, and new Mars mission and instrument technologies
• Significant progress in the Moon-to-Mars architecture, advancing the long-held goal of sending humans to Mars

The Tenth International Conference on Mars will be an ideal time to take fresh stock of our body of Red Planet knowledge, share discoveries, review recommendations and findings of the various community strategic visions, and revisit our list of top science objectives. It is also an opportunity to look ahead to the science of Mars Sample Return, ESA’s ExoMars Rover and Surface Platform, JAXA’s Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, other missions in development worldwide, and NASA’s Moon to Mars human exploration architecture.

This conference aims to fulfill three purposes:

1. To synthesize changing views of Mars’ evolution and to capture the breadth of current Mars knowledge
2. Based on current understanding of Mars’ history, state, and processes, to identify crucial planetary science questions and measurements for the following years of Mars exploration — at Mars, with returned samples, and here on Earth, with supporting laboratory and analog studies
3. From the above, to aid individual community members, academic institutions, commercial partners, and national space agencies across the globe in their planning for Mars exploration in the next decade