The following table is a list of successful and unsuccessful Mars landers. As of 2022, 21 lander missions and 8 sub-landers (Rovers and Penetrators) attempted to land on Mars. Of 21 landers, the Curiosity rover, Perseverance rover, and Tianwen-1 are currently in operation on Mars.
S.No | Landers | Launch date | Landing date | Mass (kg) [1] | Landing site | Region | Status | Country | MOLA | Entry velocity | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Mars 2MV-3 No.1 | 04 Nov 1962 | 25 Nov 1962 | 890 | - | - | Failure | Soviet Union | - | - | [2] |
2. | Mars 2 | 19 May 1971 | 27 Nov 1971 | 1210 | 45°S 47°E♦ | - | Failure | Soviet Union | - | - | [3] [4] |
3. | Mars 3 | 28 May 1971 | 02 Dec 1971 | 1210 | 45°S 202°E♦ | Sirenum Terra | Partial success | Soviet Union | - | 5.7 km/sec | [5] [4] |
4. | Mars 6 | 05 Aug 1973 | 12 Mar 1974 | 635 | 23.90°S 19.4°W | Margaritifer Terra | Failure | Soviet Union | - | - | [6] [4] |
5. | Mars 7 | 09 Aug 1973 | - | 635 | - | - | Failure | Soviet Union | - | - | [7] [4] |
6. | Viking 1 | 20 Aug 1975 | 20 Jul 1976 | 572 | 22.27°N 47.95°W | Chryse Planitia | Success | USA | -3.5 | 4.61 km/sec | [8] |
7. | Viking 2 | 09 Sep 1975 | 03 Sep 1976 | 572 | 47.64°N 225.71°W | Utopia Planitia | Success | USA | -3.5 | 4.61 km/sec | [9] |
8. | Phobos 1 § | 07 Jul 1988 | - | 2600† | - | - | Failure | Soviet Union | - | - | [10] |
9. | Phobos 2 § | 12 Jul 1987 | - | 2600† | - | - | Failure | Soviet Union | - | - | [10] |
10. | Mars 96 | 16 Nov 1996 | - | 3159 | - | - | Failure | Russia | - | - | [11] |
11. | Mars Pathfinder | 04 Dec 1996 | 04 Jul 1997 | 361 | 19°7′48″ N 33°18′12″W | Ares Vallis | Success | USA | -2.5 | 7.26 km/sec | [12] [13] |
12. | Mars Polar Lander | 03 Jan 1999 | 03 Dec 1999 | 583 | 76°S 195°W | Ultimi Scopuli | Failure | USA | -3.0 | 6.91 km/sec | [14] [15] |
13. | Beagle 2 | 02 Jun 2003 | 25 Dec 2003 | 33.2 | 11.5265°N 90.4295°E | Isidis Planitia | Failure | United Kingdom | - | 5.63 km/sec | [16] [17] |
14. | Spirit rover | 10 Jun 2003 | 4 Jan 2004 | 174 | 14.5684°S 175.4726°E | Gusev Crater | Success | USA | -1.9 | 5.4 km/sec | [18] [19] [20] |
15. | Opportunity rover | 07 Jul 2003 | 25 Jan 2004 | 174 | 1.9462°S 354.4743°E | Meridiani Planum | Success | USA | -1.4 | 5.5 km/sec | [18] [21] [20] |
16. | Phoenix lander | 04 Aug 2007 | 25 May 2008 | 350 | 68.22°N 125.7°W | Vastitas Borealis | Success | USA | -3.5 | 5.59 km/sec | [12] |
17. | Curiosity rover | 26 Nov 2011 | 6 Aug 2012 | 899 | 4.5895°S 137.4417°E | Gale Crater | Operational | USA | 2.0 | 5.6 km/sec | [22] [23] [20] |
18. | Schiaparelli EDM | 14 Mar 2016 | 19 Oct 2016 | 577 | 2.052°S 6.208°W | Meridiani Planum | Failure | ESA/ Russia | 1.45 | 5.83 km/sec | [24] |
19. | InSight Mars Lander | 5 May 2018 | 26 Nov 2018 | 727 | 4.5°N 135.9°E | Elysium Planitia | Success | USA | -2.5 | 6.3 km/sec | [25] |
20. | Perseverance rover | 30 Jul 2020 | 18 Feb 2021 | 1,025 | 18.4447°N 77.4508°E | Jezero crater | Operational | USA | - | - | [26] |
21. | Tianwen-1 | 23 July 2020 | 14 May 2021 | 240 | 25.1°N, 109.7°E | Utopia Planitia | Success | China | - | 4.8 km/sec | [27] |
§ - Spacecraft intended for Martian moons (Phobos and Deimos), †Entry Mass, ♦ Estimated, MOLA - Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter
S.No | Sub-Landers | Type | Lander Slot | Launch Date | Mass (kg) | Status | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | PrOP-M | Rover | Mars 2 | 19 May 1971 | 4.5 | Failure | [3] [4] |
2. | PrOP-M | Rover | Mars 3 | 28 May 1971 | 4.5 | Not deployed | [4] [5] |
3. | Mars 96 | Penetrator | Mars 96 | 16 Nov 1996 | 88 | Failure | [11] |
4. | Deep Space 2 | Penetrator | Mars Polar Lander | 03 Jan 1999 | 2.4 | Failure | [14] [15] |
5. | Sojourner | Rover | Mars Pathfinder | 04 Dec 1996 | 11.5 | Success | [12] [13] |
6. | Mars helicopter Ingenuity | UAV Helicopter | Mars 2020 Perseverance rover | 30 Jul 2021 | 1.8 | Success | |
7. | Zhurong | Rover | Tianwen-1 | 23 Jul 2021 | 240 | Success | |
8. | Tianwen-1 Remote camera | Camera | Zhurong rover | 1 June 2021 | <1 | Success |
Lander | Proposed Launch | Country | Agency | Type | Sub-Lander | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mars MetNet Precursor | ? | Finland | FMI | Impact Lander | - | [28] |
Mars MetNet | ? | Finland | FMI | Multi-lander | - | [29] |
Mars Lander | 2045 | South Korea | KARI | Lander | - | [30] |
Icebreaker | 2026 | US | NASA | Lander | - | [31] |
Martian Moons Exploration | 2026 | Japan | JAXA | Lander | Sample Return | [32] |
Phootprint | 2024 | Europe | ESA | Lander | Ascent Stage | [33] |
Fobos-Grunt (Repeat) | 2024 | Russia | ROSCOSMOS | Lander | Ascent Stage | [34] |
Mars-Grunt | 2024 | Russia | ROSCOSMOS | Lander | - | [1] |
BOLD | 2020 | US | NASA | Impact Lander | 6-Impact Lander | [35] |
The Explorers program is a NASA exploration program that provides flight opportunities for physics, geophysics, heliophysics, and astrophysics investigations from space. Launched in 1958, Explorer 1 was the first spacecraft of the United States to achieve orbit. Over 90 space missions have been launched since. Starting with Explorer 6, it has been operated by NASA, with regular collaboration with a variety of other institutions, including many international partners.
Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos. The two moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall. It is named after Phobos, the Greek god of fear and panic, who is the son of Ares (Mars) and twin brother of Deimos.
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordering events in the exploration of the Solar System by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft, along with Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. The lander touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first successful Mars lander in history. Viking 1 operated on Mars for 2,307 days or 2245 Martian solar days, the longest Mars surface mission until the record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the atmosphere to the surface. As part of the larger Mars Exploration Program, Mars Global Surveyor performed atmospheric monitoring for sister orbiters during aerobraking, and helped Mars rovers and lander missions by identifying potential landing sites and relaying surface telemetry.
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Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) is a planetary exploration program operated by NASA. The program funds small, low-cost spacecraft for stand-alone planetary exploration missions. These spacecraft are intended to launch as secondary payloads on other missions and are riskier than Discovery or New Frontiers missions.