Curiosity Self-Portrait at 'Big Sky' Drilling Site

A Mars rover is a

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on Track (rail transport), rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of pe ...

designed to travel on the surface of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. Rovers have several advantages over stationary

landers Landers may refer to: People * Landers (surname), a list of people surnamed Landers (including fictional people) Places * Landers, California, United States * Landers Peaks, group of peaks in the northern portion of Alexander Island, Antarct ...

: 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

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

ic vehicle control. They serve a different purpose than orbital spacecraft like ''

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, an ...

''. A more recent development is the Mars helicopter. , there have been six successful robotically operated Mars rovers; the first five, managed by the American

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

, were (by date of Mars landing): ''

Sojourner A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place. Sojourner may also refer to: * Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), abolitionist and women's rights activist * Albert Sojourner (1872–1951), member of the Mississippi House of Representative ...

'' (1997), ''

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

'' (2004–2010), ''

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

'' (2004–2018), ''

Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...

'' (2012–), and ''

Perseverance Perseverance may refer to: Behaviour * Psychological resilience * Perseverance of the saints, a Protestant Christian teaching * Assurance (theology) Geography * Perseverance, Queensland, a locality in Australia * Perseverance Island, Seychelles ...

'' (2021–). The sixth, managed by the

China National Space Administration China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...

, is ''

Zhurong Zhurong (), also known as Chongli (), is an important personage in Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. According to the '' Huainanzi'' and the philosophical texts of Mozi and his followers, Zhurong is a god of fire and of the south. Th ...

'' (2021–). On January 24, 2016,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

reported that then current studies on Mars by ''Opportunity'' and ''Curiosity'' would be searching for evidence of ancient life, including a

biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be ...

based on

autotroph An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds (such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide,Morris, J. et al. (2019). "Biology: How Life Works", ...

ic,

chemotroph A Chemotroph is an organism that obtains energy by the oxidation of electron donors in their environments. These molecules can be organic ( chemoorganotrophs) or inorganic (chemolithotrophs). The chemotroph designation is in contrast to phototro ...

ic or

chemolithoautotrophic A lithoautotroph is an organism which derives energy from reactions of reduced compounds of mineral (inorganic) origin. Two types of lithoautotrophs are distinguished by their energy source; photolithoautotrophs derive their energy from light while ...

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

s, as well as ancient water, including fluvio-lacustrine environments (

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

s related to ancient

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s or

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s) that may have been

habitable Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...

. The search for evidence of

habitability Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...

taphonomy Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov t ...

(related to

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

), and

organic carbon Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. TOC may also refer to the amount of organic c ...

on Mars is now a primary NASA objective. The Soviet probes,

Mars 2 The Mars 2 was an uncrewed space probe of the Mars program, a series of uncrewed Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union beginning 19 May 1971. The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbit ...

and

Mars 3 Mars 3 was a robotic space probe of the Soviet Mars program, launched May 28, 1971, nine days after its twin spacecraft Mars 2. The probes were identical robotic spacecraft launched by Proton-K rockets with a Blok D upper stage, each consisting ...

, were physically tethered probes; ''Sojourner'' was dependent on the

Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' (''MESUR Pathfinder'') is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, wheeled robot ...

base station for communication with Earth; ''Opportunity'', ''Spirit'' and ''Curiosity'' were on their own. As of , ''Curiosity'' is still active, while ''Spirit'', ''Opportunity'', and ''Sojourner'' completed their missions before losing contact. On February 18, 2021, ''Perseverance'', the newest American Mars rover, successfully landed. On May 14, 2021, China's ''Zhurong'' became the first non-American rover to successfully operate on Mars.

Missions

Multiple rovers have been dispatched to Mars: Tianwen-1 Lander and Zhurong Rover in Southern Utopia Planitia (ESP 069665 2055-1)

Active

* ''

'' of the

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on August ...

(MSL) mission by NASA, was launched November 26, 2011 and landed at the Aeolis Palus plain near

Aeolis Mons Mount Sharp, officially Aeolis Mons (), is a mountain on Mars. It forms the central peak within Gale (crater), Gale crater and is located around , rising high from the valley floor. Its ID in the United States Geological Survey's Gazetteer of ...

(informally "Mount Sharp") in

Gale Crater Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur ast ...

on August 6, 2012. The ''Curiosity'' rover is still operational as of 2022. * ''

'', NASA rover based on the successful ''Curiosity'' design. Launched with the

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover '' Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from ...

mission on July 30, 2020, it landed on February 18, 2021. It carried the Mars Helicopter ''Ingenuity'' attached to its belly. * ''

'' launched with the

Tianwen-1 -1 (TW-1; zh, t=, s=, l='Heavenly Questions') is an interplanetary mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, remo ...

CNSA China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...

Mars mission on July 23, 2020, landed on May 14, 2021 in the southern region of

Utopia Planitia Utopia Planitia (Greek and Latin: "Nowhere Land Plain") is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of . It is the Martian region where the ''Viking 2'' lander to ...

, and deployed on May 22, 2021, while dropping a remote selfie camera on 1 June, 2021.

Not active

* ''

'', '' PrOP-M'' rover, landed successfully on December 2, 1971. rover tethered to the Mars 3 lander. Lost when the ''Mars 3'' lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing. The loss of communication may have been due to the extremely powerful Martian dust storm taking place at the time or an issue with the Mars 3 orbiter's ability to relay communications. * ''

'' rover,

, landed successfully on July 4, 1997. Communications were lost on September 27, 1997. ''Sojourner'' had traveled a distance of just over . * ''

'' (MER-A),

Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, ''Spirit (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rover ...

(MER), launched on June 10, 2003, and landed on January 4, 2004. Nearly 6 years after the original mission limit, ''Spirit'' had covered a total distance of but its wheels became trapped in sand. The last communication received from the rover was on March 22, 2010, and NASA ceased attempts to re-establish communication on May 25, 2011. * ''

'' (MER-B), Mars Exploration Rover, launched on July 7, 2003 and landed on January 25, 2004. ''Opportunity'' surpassed the previous records for longevity at 5,352 sols (5498 Earth days from landing to mission end; 15 Earth years or 8 Martian years) and covered . The rover sent its last status on 10 June 2018 when a global 2018 Mars dust storm blocked the sunlight needed to recharge its batteries. After hundreds of attempts to reactivate the rover, NASA declared the mission complete on February 13, 2019.

Failed

* ''

'', '' PrOP-M'' rover, 1971, ''Mars 2'' landing failed taking Prop-M with it. The ''Mars 2'' and ''3'' spacecraft from the Soviet Union had identical 4.5 kg ''Prop-M'' rovers. They were to move on

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

s while connected to the landers with cables.

Planned

* The European-Russian

ExoMars ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The goals of ExoMars are to search for signs of past life on Mars, investigate how the Martian water and geochemical environment varies, investigate ...

rover ''Rosalind Franklin'' was confirmed technically ready for launch in March 2022 and planned to launch in September 2022, but due to the suspension of cooperation with Roscosmos this is delayed and a fast-track study was started to determine alternative launch options.

Proposed

* The

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

Melos rover Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The ''Venus d ...

was supposed to be launched in 2022. JAXA has not given an update since 2015. *

Mars Geyser Hopper *

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

has proposed a Mars rover as part of MOM-3, its third Mars mission in 2030.

Undeveloped

* Marsokhod was proposed to be a part of Russian

Mars 96 Mars 96 (sometimes called Mars-8) was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage bu ...

mission. *

Astrobiology Field Laboratory The Astrobiology Field Laboratory (AFL) (also Mars Astrobiology Field Laboratory or MAFL) was a proposed NASA unmanned spacecraft that would have conducted a robotic search for life on Mars. This proposed mission, which was not funded, would h ...

, proposed in the 2000-2010 period as a follow on to MSL. *

Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher The Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C), also known as Mars 2018 mission was a NASA concept for a Mars rover mission, proposed to be launched in 2018 together with the European ExoMars rover.Mars Surveyor 2001 The Mars Surveyor 2001 project was a multi-part Mars exploration mission intended as a follow-up to Mars Surveyor '98. After the two probes of the 1998 project, Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander, were both lost, NASA's "better, faster ...

rover * ''Mars Tumbleweed Rover'', a spherical wind-propelled rover. * In 2018, a kind of cushion-air rover was proposed, which in contrast with traditional hovercraft does not use blowers to pressurize the gas in the chamber but rather uses stored pressurized CO₂ obtained from a freezing process which does not require mechanical compression.

Timeline of rover surface operations

Examples of instruments

Examples of instruments onboard landed rovers include: *

Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer :''APXS is also an abbreviation for APache eXtenSion tool, an extension for Apache web servers.'' An alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) is a spectrometer that analyses the chemical element composition of a sample from scattered alpha part ...

(MPF + MER + MSL) *

CheMin Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...

(MSL) *

Chemistry and Camera complex Chemistry and Camera complex (ChemCam) is a suite of remote sensing instruments on Mars for the ''Curiosity'' rover. As the name implies, ChemCam is actually two different instruments combined as one: a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS ...

(MSL) *

Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument is an experiment mounted on the Mars Science Laboratory ''Curiosity'' rover. It is a pulsed sealed-tube neutron source and detector used to measure hydrogen or ice and water at or near the Martian s ...

(MSL) *

Hazcam Hazcams (short for hazard avoidance cameras) are photographic cameras mounted on the front and rear of NASA's ''Spirit'', ''Opportunity'', ''Curiosity'' and ''Perseverance'' rover missions to Mars and on the lower front portion of Chinese ...

(MER + MSL + M20) *

MarsDial The MarsDial is a sundial that was devised for missions to Mars. It is used to calibrate the Pancam cameras of the Mars landers. MarsDials were placed on the ''Spirit'' and ''Opportunity'' Mars rovers, inscribed with the words "Two worlds, One su ...

(MER + MSL + M20) *

Materials Adherence Experiment The Materials Adherence Experiment (MAE) was a material science experiment conducted between July 4, 1997 and August 12, 1997 during NASA's ''Mars Pathfinder'' mission. This was a joint experiment between NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ...

(MPF) *

MIMOS II MIMOS II is the miniaturised Mössbauer spectrometer, developed by Dr. Göstar Klingelhöfer at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, that is used on the Mars Exploration Rovers '' Spirit'' and '' Opportunity'' for close-up investiga ...

(MER) *

Mini-TES The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) is an infrared spectrometer used for detecting the composition of a material (typically rocks) from a distance. By making its measurements in the thermal infrared part of the electromagneti ...

(MER) *

Mars Hand Lens Imager Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is one of seventeen cameras on the ''Curiosity'' rover on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Overview The instrument is mounted on the rover's robotic arm. It is primarily used to acquire microscopic images of ...

(MSL) *

Navcam Navcam, short for navigational camera, is a type of camera found on certain robotic rover (space exploration), rovers or spacecraft used for navigation without interfering with scientific instruments. Navcams typically take wide angle photographs t ...

(MER + MSL + M20+TW1) *

Pancam Each Pancam is one of two electronic stereo cameras on Mars Exploration Rovers ''Spirit'' and ''Opportunity''. It has a filter wheel assembly that enables it to view different wavelengths of light and the pair of Pancams are mounted beside two ...

(MER) *

Rock Abrasion Tool The Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) is a grinding and brushing installation on NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers, ''Spirit'' (MER-A) and ''Opportunity'' (MER-B), which landed on Mars in January 2004. It was designed, developed and continues to be op ...

(MER) *

Radiation assessment detector The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) is an instrument mounted on the Mars Science Laboratory ''Curiosity'' rover. It was the first of ten instruments to be turned on during the mission. Purpose The first role of RAD was to characterize the b ...

(MSL) *

Rover Environmental Monitoring Station Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) is a weather station on Mars for Curiosity rover contributed by Spain and Finland. REMS measures humidity, pressure, temperature, wind speeds, and ultraviolet radiation on Mars. This Spanish project ...

(MSL) *

Sample Analysis at Mars Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is a suite of instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity (rover), ''Curiosity'' rover. The SAM instrument suite will analyze Organic compound, organics and gases from both atmospheric and solid samples. It ...

(MSL) * EDL cameras on Rover (MSL + M20+TW1) *

Cachecam The Cachecam, a photographic camera, is mounted inside the rover underbelly, at the top of the sample cache of NASA's ''Mars 2020'' rover mission to Mars. Overview The Cachecam's main job is to photograph the top of a sample tube after the sample ...

(M20) *

Mastcam-Z Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging instrument. It serves as the primary science camera on NASA's ''Perseverance'' rover. The Principal Investigator is Jim Bell of Arizona State University. The instrument was designed and built ...

(M20) *

MEDA Meda may refer to: Places * Meda de Mouros, a parish in Tábua Municipality, Portugal * Medas, a parish in Gondomar Municipality, Portugal * Meda-Ela, Sri Lanka * Međa (Leskovac), village in the municipality of Leskovac, Serbia * Meda, Lombardy ...

(M20) *

Microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

s (M20+TW1) *

MOXIE Moxie is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food" and was produced in Lowell, Massac ...

(M20) *

PIXL PixL is an independent American television channel that broadcasts commercial-free films and miniseries targeted at families. The network debuted on December 7, 2010 on the Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgita ...

(M20) *

RIMFAX The Radar Imager for Mars' subsurface experiment (RIMFAX) is a ground-penetrating radar on NASA's ''Perseverance'' rover, part of the Mars 2020 mission. It uses radar waves to see geologic features under the surface. The device can make detect ...

(M20) *

SHERLOC Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is an ultraviolet Raman spectrometer that uses fine-scale imaging and an ultraviolet (UV) laser to determine fine-scale mineralogy, and detect organ ...

(M20) * SuperCam (M20) * Remote Camera (TW1)

Mars landing locations

NASA Mars rover goals

Circa the 2010s, NASA had established certain goals for the rover program. NASA distinguishes between "mission" objectives and "science" objectives. Mission objectives are related to progress in

space technology Space technology is technology for use in outer space, in travel (''astronautics'') or other activities beyond Earth's atmosphere, for purposes such as spaceflight, space exploration, and Earth observation. Space technology includes space vehicles ...

and development processes. Science objectives are met by the instruments during their mission in space. The science instruments are chosen and designed based on the science objectives and goals. The primary goal of the ''Spirit'' and ''Opportunity'' rovers was to investigate "the history of water on Mars". The four science goals of NASA's long-term

Mars Exploration Program Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is a long-term effort to explore the planet Mars, funded and led by NASA. Formed in 1993, MEP has made use of orbital spacecraft, landers, and Mars rovers to explore the possibilities of life on Mars, as well as ...

are: * Determine whether life ever arose on Mars * Characterize the

climate of Mars The climate of Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries, in part because it is the only terrestrial planet whose surface can be directly observed in detail from the Earth with help from a telescope. Although Mars is smaller t ...

* Characterize the

geology of Mars The geology of Mars is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geo ...

* Prepare for

human exploration of Mars The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deim ...

Gallery

Image:Sojourner on Mars PIA01122.jpg, ''Sojourner'' rover on Mars Image:h rover-comp wheels 02.jpg, Comparison of wheels: Mars ''Sojourner'' rover, MER, MSL Image:Mars Science Laboratory mockup comparison.jpg, Comparison (2008): MER, ''Sojourner'' rover, MSL Image:PIA15279 3rovers-stand D2011 1215 D521.jpg, Comparison (2011): MER, ''Sojourner'' rover, humans, MSL

References

External links

NASA official Mars Rover website

Mars Pathfinder Gallery
(NASA)
All Rovers on Mars
{{Portal bar, Solar System, Spaceflight +rovers Landers (spacecraft) Mars robots

Missions

Active

Not active

Failed

Planned

Proposed

Undeveloped

Timeline of rover surface operations

Examples of instruments

Mars landing locations

NASA Mars rover goals

Gallery

See also

References

External links