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List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies

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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, four mars rovers, and 3 asteroid rovers that have successfully landed and roved on 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) 973 days 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) 2132 days 424.455 m (1,392.57 ft)
as of 1 April 2020[1]		 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 5 July 1996 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) 2269 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) 5498 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) 4473 days 21.61 km (13.43 mi) Currently active
Mars 2020 Perseverance United States NASA 18 February 2021 18°22′46″N 77°34′45″E / 18.3793167°N 77.5792887°E / 18.3793167; 77.5792887 (Mars 2020) 668 days (planned) Planned to launch July 2020
Tianwen-1 China CNSA April 2021 Planned to launch July 2020
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Europe ESA 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[2] Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
MINERVA-II Rover-1B 3 days[2] Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
MASCOT FranceGermany CNES/DLR 3 October 2018 Alice's Wonderland 17 h 14 min[3] ~17.9 m (59 ft)[3] 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
  • Spirit artificially added to image (taken by itself) of Larry's Lookout
    Spirit artificially added to image (taken by itself) of Larry's Lookout
  • Spirit Martian sunset by Spirit at Gusev crater, May 19, 2005.
    Spirit Martian sunset by Spirit at Gusev crater, May 19, 2005.
  • Lunokhod 1 Soviet Lunokhod moonrover from the 1970s.
    Lunokhod 1 Soviet Lunokhod moonrover from the 1970s.

See also

References

  1. ^ "China's lunar rover travels over 424 meters on moon's far side". Xinhua. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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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