List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies

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A rover is a planetary surface exploration vehicle designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other celestial body. Rovers are used to explore, collect information, and take samples of the surface. This is a list of all rovers on extraterrestrial bodies in the Solar System. Since 1970, there have been seven lunar rovers, seven Mars rovers, and three asteroid rovers that have successfully landed and explored these extraterrestrial surfaces. In addition, a small helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity , operated from 2021 to 2024.

Contents

Moon

Mars

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingCoordinatesOperational timeDistance travelled
Mars 2 PrOP-M Flag of the Soviet Union.svg USSR 27 November 1971 45°S47°E / 45°S 47°E / -45; 47 (Mars 2 lander) --
First rover to reach Mars. Lost when Mars 2 landing system crash landed on Mars.
Mars 3 PrOP-M Flag of the Soviet Union.svg USSR 2 December 1971 45°S202°E / 45°S 202°E / -45; 202 (Mars 3 lander) --
First rover to successfully land on Mars. The lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing, before the rover was deployed.
Mars Pathfinder Sojourner Flag of the United States.svg NASA 4 July 1997 38°14′16″N35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Sojourner) 85 days100 m (330 ft)
First rover to successfully run on Mars.
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Flag of the United States.svg NASA 4 January 2004 14°34′06″S175°28′21″E / 14.5684°S 175.472636°E / -14.5684; 175.472636 (Spirit) 6 years 79 days7.73 km (4.80 mi)
Mission ended after rover got stuck in Martian sand.
Opportunity Flag of the United States.svg NASA 25 January 2004 1°56′46″S354°28′24″E / 1.9462°S 354.4734°E / -1.9462; 354.4734 (Opportunity) 14 years 140 days45.16 km (28.06 mi)
Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Flag of the United States.svg NASA 6 August 2012 4°35′22″S137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417 (Curiosity) 12 years 341 days32.40 km (20.13 mi)
as of 24 September 2024 [14]
Rover for investigating past and present habitability, climate and geology.
Mars 2020 Perseverance Flag of the United States.svg NASA 18 February 2021 18°26′41″N77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 (Mars 2020) 4 years 145 days29.06 km (18.06 mi)
as of 24 September 2024 [15]
Ingenuity 3 April 2021 (deployment)2 years 340 days17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 72 flights [16]
The Ingenuity helicopter is the first aircraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body.
Tianwen-1 Zhurong Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg CNSA 14 May 2021 25°06′N109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 (Zhurong) 356 days1.921 km (1.194 mi)
as of 1 May 2022 [17]
Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter.
MMX IDEFIX Flag of France.svg Flag of Germany.svg CNES/DLR 2027TBD
Rover for studying the surface of Phobos.
Mars Sample Return Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters Flag of the United States.svg NASA 2030TBD
Two Ingenuity class helicopters designed to retrieve Martian surface samples.

Asteroids

BodyMissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingLocationOperational timeDistance travelled
162173 Ryugu Hayabusa2 MINERVA-II Rover-1A Flag of Japan.svg JAXA 21 September 2019Tritonis36 days [18]
MINERVA-II Rover-1B3 days [18]
Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
MASCOT Flag of Germany.svg Flag of France.svg DLR/CNES 3 October 2018Alice's Wonderland17 h 14 min [19] ~17.9 m (59 ft) [19]
Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface.
MINERVA-II Rover-2 Flag of Japan.svg JAXA October 2019Unknown0 days0 m
Failed before deployment, so it was released into orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.

Titan

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingLocationOperational timeDistance travelled
Dragonfly Flag of the United States.svg NASA 2034 Shangri-La 10 years (planned)
Rotorcraft to be sent to Titan in 5-25 July 2028.

Crewed rovers

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingCoordinatesOperational timeDistance travelledNotes
Apollo 15 Lunar Roving Vehicle Flag of the United States.svg NASA 7 August 1971 26.1322°N 3.6339°E 3 h 02 min27.76 km

(7.75 mi)

First crewed lunar rover
Apollo 16 Lunar Roving Vehicle Flag of the United States.svg NASA 21 April 1972 8.97301°S 15.50019°E 3 h 26 min26.55 km

(16.50 mi)

Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle Flag of the United States.svg NASA 11 December 1972 20.1908°N 30.7717°E 4 h 26 min35.89 km

(22.30 mi)

Furthest distance travelled by crewed lunar rover
Artemis V Lunar Terrain Vehicle Flag of the United States.svg NASA 2030TBDUnpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis program
Chinese Crewed Lunar Mission Chinese Crewed Rover Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg CNSA 2030TBDRover shown at the National Museum of China on 24 February 2023
Artemis VII Lunar Cruiser Flag of Japan.svg JAXA 2032TBDDeveloped jointly between JAXA and Toyota

Proposed rovers

RoverCountry/AgencyProposed Date of launchedLocationNotes
MPR-1 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg STELLS2025In range of a craterRover under study for power supply for future mining rovers
Canadensys Rover Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canadensys 2026 Lunar South Pole Rover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the Moon
Lunar Trailblazer Flag of Australia (converted).svg Flag of the Netherlands.svg Delft University of Technology 2026 Lunar South Pole Small rover studying swarm technologies
Luna-Grunt Flag of Russia.svg Roscosmos 2028Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknown
LIBER Flag of Singapore.svg Qosmosys 2027TBDLunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.[ citation needed ]
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Flag of Europe.svg ESA NET 2028 18°16′30″N335°22′05″E / 18.275°N 335.368°E / 18.275; 335.368 (Rosalind Franklin) Rover will search for previous signs of life on Mars.
HERACLES Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg CSA 2030 Schrödinger basin Part of European Large Logistic Lander program, will be used to transport samples and scout for resources on the Moon.
Asagumo Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Spacebit TBDSpider-like rover was planned to launch with Peregrine Mission One but its status is currently unknown
CELV Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Jilin University/CAST TBDNear a Lunar base The Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle is an emergency crewed rover that will be stored on a larger crewed rover. [20]
MoonRanger Flag of the United States.svg Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon University TBD Lunar South Pole Was intended to launch in November 2023 but lunar lander provider Masten Space Systems declared bankruptcy and the rover is on hold
Rashid 2 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg MBRSC TBDTBDRover development announced after failure of first rover.

See also

References

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