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Mars rover

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Artist's conception of the Curiosity rover vaporizing rock on Mars. The rover landed on Mars in August 2012.

A Mars rover is an automated motor vehicle which propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars after landing.

Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control.

There have been four successful Mars rovers, all of them robotically operated. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the Mars Pathfinder mission with its Sojourner rover. It currently manages the Mars Exploration Rover mission with its two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and also the Curiosity, which is part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission.

Interactive map of Mars landings

The following interactive map of the planet Mars has embedded links to geographical features in addition to the noted Rover and Lander locations. Click on the features and you will be taken to the corresponding article pages. North is at the top; Elevations: red (higher), yellow (zero), blue (lower).

Map of Mars
Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlaid with the position of Martian rovers and landers. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations of Martian surface.
Clickable image: Clicking on the labels will open a new article.
(   Active •   Inactive •   Planned)
Bradbury Landing
Deep Space 2
Mars Polar Lander
Perseverance
Schiaparelli EDM
Spirit
Viking 1

Rover synopsis

Several rovers have been sent to Mars:

  • Mars 2, Prop-M rover, 1971, Mars 2 landing failed taking Prop-M with it. The Mars 2 and 3 spacecraft from the USSR had identical 4.5 kg Prop-M rovers. They were to move on skis while connected to the landers with cables.[1]
  • Mars 3, Prop-M rover, 1971, lost when Mars 3 lander stopped communicating about 20 seconds after landing.[1]
  • Sojourner rover, Mars Pathfinder, landed successfully on July 4, 1997. Communications were lost on September 27, 1997.
  • Beagle 2, Planetary Undersurface Tool, lost with Beagle 2 on deployment from Mars Express in 2003.[2] A compressed spring mechanism was designed to allow movement across the surface at a rate of 1 cm per 5 seconds[2] and to burrow into the ground and collect a subsurface sample in a cavity in its tip.
  • Spirit (MER-A), Mars Exploration Rover, launched on June 10, 2003 at 13:58:47 EDT[3] and landed successfully on January 4, 2004. Nearly 6 years after the original mission limit, Spirit had covered a total distance of 7.73 km (4.80 mi) but its wheels became trapped in sand.[4] Around January 26, 2010, NASA conceded defeat in its efforts to free the rover and stated that it would now function as a stationary science platform.[5] The last communication received from the rover was on March 22, 2010, and NASA ceased attempts to re-establish communication on May 25, 2011.[6]
  • Opportunity (MER-B), Mars Exploration Rover, launched on July 7, 2003 at 23:18:15 EDT[7] and landed successfully on January 25, 2004. Opportunity was still operating as of 2012, having surpassed the previous record for longevity of a surface mission to Mars on May 20, 2010.[8][9]Opportunity is still going.
  • Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory, by NASA. It was launched November 26, 2011 at 10:02 EST[10][11] and landed in the Aeolis Palus plain near Aeolis Mons (informally "Mount Sharp")[12][13][14][15] in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012, 05:31 UTC.[16][17][18]Curiosity Rover is still going.

Rover concepts

Mars rovers in development include:

One experimental design, not proposed for any actual mission, is:

  • Mars Tumbleweed Rover, a wind-propelled rover.[20]

NASA rover goals

Panorama of Husband Hill taken by MER-A Spirit Rover, November 23–28, 2005.

NASA distinguishes between "mission" objectives and "science" objectives. Mission objectives are related to progress in space technology and development processes. Science objectives are met by the instruments during their mission in space.

The details of rover science vary according to equipment carried. The primary goal of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers is to discover "the history of water on Mars".[21] (The presence of usable water would greatly reduce manned mission cost.)

The four science goals of NASA's long-term Mars Exploration Program are:

  • Determine whether life ever arose on Mars
  • Characterize the climate of Mars
  • Characterize the geology of Mars
  • Prepare for human exploration[22]
Mars rover Sojourner atop its lander Pathfinder at the National Air and Space Museum
Wheel size comparison: Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Science Laboratory.
MSL mockup compared with the Mars Exploration Rover and Sojourner rover by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on May 12, 2008
Sojourner rover on Mars
A Martian sunset at Gusev Crater. Spirit rover, May 19, 2005.
Three generations of U.S. Mars rovers

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "Mars 2 Lander". NASA NSSDC. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  2. ^ a b NSSDC - Beagle 2
  3. ^ "Mars Exploration". 10 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  4. ^ Boyle, Alan. "Good moves on Mars". MSNBC. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  5. ^ Times, International Business (January 26, 2010). "NASA concedes defeat in effort to free rover". Retrieved 2010-01-26. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "NASA Concludes Attempts To Contact Mars Rover Spirit". NASA. May 24, 2011.
  7. ^ "Mars Exploration". 10 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  8. ^ "NASA's Mars Rovers Set Surface Longevity Record". NASA. May 19, 2010.
  9. ^ 'Greeley Haven' is Winter Workplace for Mars Rover
  10. ^ "Mars Science Laboratory Launch". 26 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  11. ^ Associated Press (26 November 2011). "NASA Launches Super-Size Rover to Mars: 'Go, Go!'". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  12. ^ USGS (16 May 2012). "Three New Names Approved for Features on Mars". USGS. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  13. ^ NASA Staff (27 March 2012). "'Mount Sharp' on Mars Compared to Three Big Mountains on Earth". NASA. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  14. ^ Agle, D. C. (28 March 2012). "'Mount Sharp' On Mars Links Geology's Past and Future". NASA. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  15. ^ Staff (29 March 2012). "NASA's New Mars Rover Will Explore Towering 'Mount Sharp'". Space.com. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  16. ^ Webster, Guy; Brown, Dwayne (22 July 2011). "NASA's Next Mars Rover To Land At Gale Crater". NASA JPL. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  17. ^ Chow, Dennis (22 July 2011). "NASA's Next Mars Rover to Land at Huge Gale Crater". Space.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  18. ^ Amos, Jonathan (22 July 2011). "Mars rover aims for deep crater". BBC News. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  19. ^ Michael A. Taverna (October 19, 2009). "ESA Proposes Two ExoMars Missions". Aviation Week. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  20. ^ Kimberly W. Land (May 13, 2003). "A new way to explore the surface of Mars". NASA. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  21. ^ "Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Overview". marsrovers.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  22. ^ "Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Science - Looking for signs of past water on Mars". marsrovers.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2008-06-25.

Rover websites

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