How many probes at Mars currently (in orbit and on the surface) and how many still working? It kinda neat that Mars' skies are becoming so crowded....

Working:

Spirit and Opportunity on the surface.

ESA's Mars Express, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey in orbit.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in transit.

Successful but now defunct:

Mars Pathfinder, Viking 1 and 2 on surface.

Mariner 9 in orbit.

Mariners 4, 6 and 7 flown by.

Unsuccessfu/crashed:

Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander, Beagle 2

Partially successful Russian missions: Mars 2, 3 and 6 on surface or crashed, Mars 4 and 5 , Fobos 2 in orbit.

__________________
"The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head" Terry Pratchett

Check out these pages for current missions and past missions. Note that in the past section, a number of the spacecraft encountered problems, either failing, crashing or getting stuck orbiting the Sun. Others, like the earlier Mariner missions (except for Mariner 9), simply did fly-bys of Mars.

6 are presently working if you include Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which will arrive on March 10th.

that's alot....any plans to retire Global Surveyor?

As long as it gets a budget...

__________________
"The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head" Terry Pratchett

MGS is still in good shape, and the more eyes (so to speak) the better. As of September:

I'm not sure offhand how long the mission will be funded, which is likely the determining factor. But it's still returning good science.

... and the Viking 1 and 2 orbiters should be in the "succesful but now defunct" part of your list, still in orbit I think.

CJSF

__________________
Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

Does anyone have a link to a map showing the landing spots of the various landers? Someone asked me the other day if it would be possible for one of the rovers to go "visit" the Vikings and/or Pathfinder. I doubt it is posible because of the slow speed of the rovers, but I have no idea how far they are from other missions.

Another life form is going to land on Mars before us... and think a cigilization of robots once lived there *nods*

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmercer317
http://www.pleasegodhelpme.org

That's impossible, they're thousands of kilometers from each other (*. Mars Pathfinder landed relatively close to Viking 1 Lander. Both MERs are near equator, Spirit is actually in the southern hemisphere. Viking 2 Lander is located at relatively high latitudes, which allowed it to image frost during winter.

Few seconds of Googling showed up this image.

*) Don't forget that Mars is a planet. Although it is much smaller than the Earth, its surface area is as large as Earth's land mass combined. So there's much room for probes.

__________________
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

this begs the question- has the Mars curse been beaten?

This calls for the question: Was there a Mars curse?

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

The least impossible journey would be for Opportunity to visit the Pathfinder landing site, but even that is on the order of a thousand kilometers. Even if Oppi could manage 220 meters a day (its record for a one-day traverse), it would take over a decade to get there.

__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

Since the question refers to "at mars", flyby missions don't count. There are a few other missions as well. The list should be amended to

Working:

Spirit and Opportunity on the surface.

Mars Express, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey in orbit.

Successful but now defunct:

Mars Pathfinder, Viking 1 and 2 on surface.

In orbit - Mariner 9, Viking 1 & 2 orbiters, Mars 2, 3, and 5, Phobos 2 (curtailed mission).

Crashed/malunctioned on surface

Mars 3 and 6 landers, Mars Polar Lander, Deep space 2 A & B, Beagle 2

Status uncertain

Mars Climatology orbter (bits may be in orbit or on the surface) Mars 2 lander (bit may have survived an over steep entry)

Jon

Anyone happen to know of a good Mars globe that also has landing sites included? I did a quick search but can't seem to find one that specifically says landing sites are included.

__________________
"The bread's hollowed out --- the veggies go on forever --- and --- oh my God! --- it's full of meat!" - Maksutov

Planetary Society: Space Topics: Mars

Names, dates, and results are presented.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...