A Mars Microsat in orbit. These small inexpensive "Mars Micromissions" were supposed to catch a ride by "piggybacking" onboard a French Ariane 5 rocket. (See animation frames below on this page) The small spacecraft would then have performed a complicated series of manuevers involving gravity-assists from the Moon in order for them to gain enough speed to reach Mars. At one time it was a possibility that a Mars Airplane could be deployed from the first Mars Microsat in time for the 100th aniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk. For various reasons both the Micromissions and the 2003 Mars Airplane never got off the ground. They were both cancelled.