List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A rover is a planetary surface exploration vehicle designed to move across the 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 four lunar rovers (excludes the three Lunar Roving Vehicles on Apollo 15, 16, and 17, as they carried no payloads and were designed to be driven by astronauts on the lunar surface), six Mars rovers, and three asteroid rovers that have successfully landed and explored these extraterrestrial surfaces.

Key[]

Colour key:

  – Mission completed successfully (or partially successfully)       – Failed or cancelled mission
  – Mission en route or in progress (including mission extensions)   – Planned mission

Moon[]

Main article: Lunar rover
Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelled Notes
Luna 17 Lunokhod 1 Soviet Union USSR 17 November 1970 38°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Lunokhod 1) 322 days 10.5 km (6.5 mi) First rover on extraterrestrial body
Luna 21 Lunokhod 2 Soviet Union USSR 15 January 1971 25°51′N 30°27′E / 25.85°N 30.45°E / 25.85; 30.45 (Lunokhod 2) 236 days 39 km (24 mi) Farthest distance traveled on the Moon.
Chang'e 3 Yutu China CNSA 14 December 2013 44°07′N 19°31′W / 44.12°N 19.51°W / 44.12; -19.51 (Yutu) 42 days (mobile)
973 days (total)		 114.8 m (377 ft) First Chinese extraterrestrial rover and first soft landing on the Moon in over 35 years. Immobile after 42 days from landing.
Chang'e 4 Yutu-2 China CNSA 3 January 2019 44°48′S 175°54′E / 44.8°S 175.9°E / -44.8; 175.9 (Yutu 2) 968 days 708.9 m (2,326 ft)[1]
as of 12 May 2021		 First soft landing on the far side of the Moon. Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 Pragyan India ISRO 6 September 2019 70°54′S 22°47′E / 70.90°S 22.78°E / -70.90; 22.78 (Vikram lander) 0 days 0 km Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon
VIPER United States NASA December 2022 100 days (planned)

Mars[]

Main article: Mars rover
Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelled Notes
Mars 2 Prop-M Rover Soviet Union USSR 27 November 1971 45°S 47°E / 45°S 47°E / -45; 47 (Mars 2 lander) 0 days 0 km Lost when Mars 2 lander crash landed on Mars
Mars 3 Prop-M Rover Soviet Union USSR 2 December 1971 45°S 202°E / 45°S 202°E / -45; 202 (Mars 3 lander) 0 days 0 km Lost when Mars 3 lander stopped communicating about 20 seconds after landing
Mars Pathfinder Sojourner United States NASA 4 July 1997 38°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Sojourner) 85 days 100 m (330 ft) First successful rover on Mars
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit United States NASA 4 January 2004 14°34′06″S 175°28′21″E / 14.5684°S 175.472636°E / -14.5684; 175.472636 (Spirit) 6 years 79 days 7.73 km (4.80 mi)
Opportunity United States NASA 25 January 2004 1°56′46″S 354°28′24″E / 1.9462°S 354.4734°E / -1.9462; 354.4734 (Opportunity) 14 years 140 days 45.16 km (28.06 mi) Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity United States NASA 25 January 2012 4°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417 (Curiosity) 9 years 23 days 24.85 km (15.44 mi)[2]
as of 4 March 2021		 Currently active
Mars 2020 Perseverance United States NASA 18 February 2021 18°26′41″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 (Mars 2020) 191 days 1.97 km (1.22 mi)[3]
as of 16 August 2021		 Currently active
Tianwen-1 Zhurong China CNSA 14 May 2021 25°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9Coordinates: 25°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 106 days 1.0 km (0.62 mi)[4]
as of 23 August 2021		 Currently active
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin EuropeRussia ESA/Roscosmos 2023 18°16′30″N 335°22′05″E / 18.275°N 335.368��E / 18.275; 335.368 (Rosalind Franklin) 420 days (planned) Planned to launch 2022

Asteroids[]

Body Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Location Operational time Distance travelled Notes
162173 Ryugu Hayabusa2 MINERVA-II Rover-1A Japan JAXA 21 September 2019 Tritonis 36 days[5] Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
MINERVA-II Rover-1B 3 days[5]
MASCOT FranceGermany DLR/CNES 3 October 2018 Alice's Wonderland 17 h 14 min[6] ~17.9 m (59 ft)[6] Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface
MINERVA-II Rover-2 Japan JAXA October 2019 Unknown 0 days 0 m Failed before deployment, so it was released in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later

Gallery[]

  • Spirit Martian sunset by Spirit at Gusev crater, May 19, 2005.

  • Lunokhod 1 Soviet Lunokhod moonrover from the 1970s.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "China's Yutu 2 rover about to 'wake up' on the far side of the moon". Space.com. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Where Is Curiosity?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 30 January 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Distance Travelled By NASA's Perseverance Rover (16 August, 2021), retrieved 2021-08-16
  4. ^ "China's Zhurong rover travels over 1,000 meters on Mars". remonews.com. 24 August 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (2019-10-24). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Davis, Jason (28 August 2019). "Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
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