Okay whatever here we go again.
Mars exploration missions are still the main thing stopping me from completely losing it.
It’s January 13 2026, 12-something in Faridabad, Haryana, I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor because the chair broke last month and I haven’t fixed it, there’s a fly buzzing around the tube-light, my neck hurts from looking up at the screen too long, and instead of doing anything useful I’m once more mainlining raw rover images like they’re going to fix my life. My WhatsApp group keeps pinging about some family function I already said no to. Whatever.
So here’s the updated (sort of) list of the top 10 Mars exploration missions I think are worth your limited attention span in early 2026. It’s still biased, still incomplete, still emotional. Sue me.
The Ones Still Actually Sending Data Home Top 10 Mars Exploration Missions
1. Perseverance rover (landed 2021)
Still trundling around Jezero, still dropping sample tubes like breadcrumbs we might never collect. Every new 4K image drop hits different at 1 a.m. I yelled “YES” when the latest delta mosaic came in and scared the neighbour’s dog. → raw images I check way too often: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ → mission home: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
2. Curiosity rover (landed 2012 holy shit)
Fourteen years old now? Climbing Gediz Vallis like it’s training for a marathon. Wheel treads looking rougher every month. I feel you, big guy. → raw feed: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/
→ raw images I check way too often: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ → mission home: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
Orbiters & International Ones I Stan Top 10 Mars Exploration Missions
3. Hope Probe (UAE, 2021–)
Keeps posting these gorgeous full-planet weather animations. Underrated king. → https://www.emmars.ae/
4. Tianwen-1 orbiter (China)
Rover silent but orbiter still grinding out high-res maps and relay duty like a champ. → http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/
The Future/Disaster/Drama Category Top 10 Mars Exploration Missions
5. Mars Sample Return architecture (NASA+ESA)
Still the most bonkers plan ever: fetch rover, sample cache retrieval lander, Mars ascent vehicle, Earth return orbiter… delays piling up, budget ballooning, politicians mad. I eat this drama up. → https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/
6. Rosalind Franklin rover (ESA, launch maybe 2028 now?)
Another delay announcement probably dropped while I was sleeping. I’ve been waiting for this drill since before covid. Pain. → https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ExoMars
7. ESCAPADE (twin orbiters)
Still hoping the launch actually happens this year. Magnetosphere boys let’s goooo. → https://lasp.colorado.edu/escape/
The Ancient Ones Still Hanging On Top 10 Mars Exploration Missions
8. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter / HiRISE camera
Still spitting out images sharp enough to count individual rocks from orbit. Insane. → https://www.uahirise.org/
9. MAVEN
Still measuring how Mars is bleeding its atmosphere into space. The slow tragedy we all pretend isn’t happening. → https://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/
Martian dust storms crackle with ‘mini lightning,’ revealing …
10. ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Top 10 Mars Exploration Missions
Methane mystery machine. Every time they publish a new map the astrobiology twitter people start fighting again. Love to see it. → https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ExoMars/Trace_Gas_Orbiter
Look this ranking is trash and I know it. I probably should have put MRO higher. Or swapped Hope and Tianwen. Or added Odyssey because THEMIS is still quietly doing thermal maps after twenty-something years. Whatever. I’m tired.
I’m just some guy in a hot room 140 million kilometers from the nearest working robot, getting weirdly sentimental over wheel tracks in sand I’ll never touch.
Which one are you following the most obsessively right now? Seriously tell me. Reply here or @ me on X @wylogafi — I need validation that I’m not the only one this deep in the sauce.
And yeah… keep those raw image tabs open. It’s the closest thing we have to magic in 2026.
(or at least the closest thing I have while my paratha gets colder) later ✌️
