List of man-made objects on Mars
The list of man-made objects on Mars includes most of the man-made objects on the surface of Mars .
Most of the probes are no longer in operation. While Phoenix was started and ended in the course of 2008, the mission of the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity has been extended again and again since 2003, as the rovers were powered by solar cells and have proven to be much more durable than originally assumed. Spirit's mission was officially completed in May 2011, Opportunity's in February 2019. Since August 6, 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory mission with the Curiosity rover has been the only mobile space probe on Mars.
While over 7 tons have been brought to Mars, nothing has yet been brought from Mars to Earth. The return of Mars samples to Earth will take place after 2025 at the earliest .
This list does not include smaller items such as parachutes, heat shields or the MER landers .
The objects are numbered according to the order of their impact or their landing.
table
object | country | landing | Dimensions | position | comment | image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mars 2 | Soviet Union | Nov 27, 1971 | 355 kg | 04.00 ° N , 47.000 ° W | Destroyed on landing. | |
Mars 3 | Soviet Union | Dec 2, 1971 | 355 kg | 45.00 ° S , 158.00 ° W | Reached the surface of Mars, radio transmission stopped after 20 s. | |
Mars 6 | Soviet Union | March 12, 1974 | 355 kg | 29.90 ° S , 19.400 ° W | Mars surface reached, presumably overturned on landing. | |
Viking 1 |
USA ( NASA ) |
July 20, 1976 | 657 kg | 22.48 ° N , 47.970 ° W | Successful, had contact until November 11, 1982. | |
Viking 2 |
USA ( NASA ) |
3rd Sep 1976 | 657 kg | 48.27 ° N , 134.01 ° O | Successful, had contact until April 11, 1980. | |
Mars Pathfinder (MPF) |
USA ( NASA ) |
4th July 1997 | 264 kg | 19.30 ° N , 33.600 ° W | Successful, the first human-built motorized vehicle on the surface of Mars (Sojourner). The rover weighed 11.5 kg. Last broadcast on September 27, 1997. | |
Mars Climate Orbiter |
USA ( NASA ) |
23 Sep 1999 | 629 kg | unknown | Failure due to a unit error in the navigation system. | |
Mars Polar Lander with Deep Space 2 |
USA ( NASA ) |
Dec 3, 1999 | 354 kg | 76.00 ° S , 165.00 ° O | Failure, shattered during landing because the landing engines switched off too early | |
Beagle 2 |
Europe ( ESA ) |
Dec 25, 2003 | 33 kg | 10.60 ° N , 90,000 ° O | Failure, no radio contact could be established. | |
Spirit (MER-A) |
USA ( NASA ) |
Jan. 4, 2004 | 820 kg | 14.60 ° S , 175.48 ° O | Successful, had contact until March 22, 2010. The rover has a weight of 185 kg. | |
Opportunity (MER-B) |
USA ( NASA ) |
Jan. 25, 2004 | 820 kg | 01.95 ° S , 5.5300 ° W | Successful, the weight of the rover is 185 kg. Last contact on June 10, 2018 | |
Phoenix |
USA ( NASA ) |
May 25, 2008 | 410 kg | 68.20 ° N , 125.70 ° W | Successful, discovery of water ice. Last contact November 2, 2008 | |
Curiosity |
USA ( NASA ) |
Aug 6, 2012 | 899 kg | 04.49 ° N , 137.42 ° O | active | |
Schiaparelli |
Europe ( ESA ) |
19th Oct 2016 | 577 kg | Loss of radio contact shortly before landing, destroyed on impact | ||
InSight |
USA ( NASA ) |
Nov 26, 2018 | 694 kg | 04.50 ° N , 135.00 ° O | active | |
15 missions | Total mass | 7879 kg | 2x successful and active , 6x successful and inactive, 7x failure |
Picture gallery
Viking 2 on Mars
Size comparison of a MER and the Sojourner rover
The Phoenix spacecraft, hanging under its parachute, captured above the surface of Mars by the Mars orbiter MRO .
See also
- List of artificial objects on other celestial bodies
- List of man-made objects on the moon
- List of man-made objects on Venus
- List of man-made objects on Mercury
- Chronology of the missions to Mars
swell
- Bernd Leitenberger: Beagle 2
- Bernd Leitenberger: Space probes to Mars
- Marsweb NASA (English) on archive.org, version February 9, 1998 ( Memento from February 9, 1998 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ “Viking 2 Lander” in the NSSDCA Master Catalog , accessed on January 26, 2013 (English).