List of artificial objects on Mars facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Imagine a cosmic junkyard, but instead of old cars, it's filled with amazing robots that explored another planet! This article is about all the cool machines and spacecraft that Earth has sent to land on Mars. Most of these robots have finished their jobs, but some, like the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, are still busy exploring the Martian surface right now! China's Tianwen-1 mission also successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars recently.

This list focuses on the main spacecraft that landed. It doesn't include smaller pieces like springs, parachute parts, or heat shields that broke off during landing. As of As of February 2021^[update], there have been 14 different missions that placed objects on Mars. Some of these missions even included several different spacecraft!

Robots and Vehicles on Mars
Other Objects on Mars
Gallery
- From the Surface
- From Orbit
Special Names for Landing Sites
See also

Robots and Vehicles on Mars

Key
	Success
	Operational
	Failure

Year	Agency	Mission	Object(s)	Mass (kg)	Status	Location
1971	USSR	Mars 2	Mars 2 lander and PrOP-M rover	1210	Crashed during landing.	Estimated at 45°S 313°W / 45°S 313°W / -45; -313 (Mars 2)
1971	USSR	Mars 3	Mars 3 lander and PrOP-M rover	1210	Landed safely but stopped working shortly after.	Estimated at Sirenum Terra 45°S 158°W / 45°S 158°W / -45; -158 (Mars 3)
1973	USSR	Mars 6	Mars 6 lander	635	Sent back some data during landing, but contact was lost before it reached the surface.	Estimated at Margaritifer Terra 23°54′S 19°25′W / 23.90°S 19.42°W / -23.90; -19.42 (Mars 6)
1976	NASA	Viking 1	Viking 1 lander	657	Worked for 2245 Martian days (sols). Stopped communicating on November 11, 1982.	Chryse Planitia 22°41′49″N 48°13′19″W / 22.697°N 48.222°W / 22.697; -48.222 (Viking 1)
1976	NASA	Viking 2	Viking 2 lander	657	Worked for 1281 Martian days (sols). Stopped communicating on April 11, 1980.	Utopia Planitia 48°16′08″N 225°59′24″W / 48.269°N 225.990°W / 48.269; -225.990 (Viking 2)
1997	NASA	Mars Pathfinder	Pathfinder (lander)	360	Worked for 83 Martian days (sols). Stopped communicating on September 27, 1997.	Ares Vallis 19°20′N 33°33′W / 19.33°N 33.55°W / 19.33; -33.55 (Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner)
1997	NASA	Mars Pathfinder	Sojourner (rover)	11.5
1999	NASA	Mars Surveyor '98	Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 (probes)	500	Crashed during landing; the exact reason is unknown.	Estimated at Ultimi Scopuli 76°S 195°W / 76°S 195°W / -76; -195
2003	ESA (UK)	Mars Express	Beagle 2 (lander)	33.2	Landed safely, but its solar panels didn't open, so it couldn't get power.	Isidis Planitia 11°31′35″N 90°25′46″E / 11.5265°N 90.4295°E / 11.5265; 90.4295 (Beagle 2 landing site)
2004	NASA	Mars Exploration Rover	Spirit (rover)	185	Worked for 2210 Martian days (sols). Stopped communicating on March 22, 2010.	Gusev crater 14°34′18″S 175°28′43″E / 14.5718°S 175.4785°E / -14.5718; 175.4785 (Spirit rover)
2004	NASA	Mars Exploration Rover	Opportunity (rover)	185	Worked for 5111 Martian days (sols). Stopped communicating on June 10, 2018.	Meridiani Planum 1°56′46″S 354°28′24″E / 1.9462°S 354.4734°E / -1.9462; 354.4734 (Opportunity rover)
2008	NASA	Phoenix Mars Lander	Phoenix (lander)	350	Worked for 155 Martian days (sols). Stopped communicating on November 2, 2008.	Green Valley in Vastitas Borealis 68°13′N 125°42′W / 68.22°N 125.7°W / 68.22; -125.7 (Phoenix)
2012	NASA	Mars Science Laboratory	Curiosity (rover)	900	Still working today, after 4746 Martian days.	Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater 4°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417
2016	ESA Roscosmos	ExoMars 2016	Schiaparelli EDM (lander)	577	Crashed on impact, but sent back data during its descent.	Meridiani Planum 2°03′S 6°13′W / 2.05°S 6.21°W / -2.05; -6.21
2018	NASA	InSight	InSight (lander)	358	Finished its mission after landing on December 19, 2022.	Elysium Planitia 4°30′09″N 135°37′24″E / 4.5024°N 135.6234°E / 4.5024; 135.6234 (InSight landing site)
2021	NASA	Mars 2020	Perseverance (rover)	1024	Still working today, after 1711 Martian days.	Jezero crater 18°26′45″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4457°N 77.4508°E / 18.4457; 77.4508 (Perseverance landing site)
2021	NASA	Mars 2020	Ingenuity (helicopter)	1.8	Worked for 1711 Martian days.	Wright Brothers Field 18°26′45″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4457°N 77.4508°E / 18.4457; 77.4508 (Ingenuity drop site)
2021	CNSA	Tianwen-1	Tianwen-1 (lander)	1285	Finished its mission after landing on May 14, 2021.	Utopia Planitia 25°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 (Zhurong landing site)
			Zhurong (rover)	240	Became inactive because of a sandstorm. It worked for 361 Martian days.
			Tianwen-1 Remote camera	<1	Completed its mission on June 1, 2021.

Other Objects on Mars

When spacecraft land on Mars, they often leave behind more than just the main robot. Sometimes, parts like heat shields, parachutes, or even pieces from a crash can be found.

Leftover Parts: For example, the Schiaparelli lander likely broke into many pieces when it crashed. Other missions leave behind things like counterweights that helped them land. Finding these smaller pieces helps scientists understand what happened during landing.
Missing Spacecraft: It's not always easy to find exactly where every spacecraft landed. For a long time, no one knew what happened to Beagle 2. But after 11 years, it was finally spotted! Some spacecraft, like Mars 2, Mars 3, Mars 6, and the Mars Polar Lander, are still waiting to be precisely located.
Orbiters that Fell: Some spacecraft orbit Mars for a long time. Eventually, their orbits can decay, meaning they slowly get closer to the planet. When this happens, they might burn up in the atmosphere or crash onto the surface. This happened to Mariner 9, which entered Mars orbit in 1971 and eventually fell to the planet around 2022. Other orbiters, like the Viking 1 and Viking 2 orbiters, might also eventually fall to Mars.

An example of an additional object from a spacecraft landing is the metal shroud ejected by the Viking 2 lander, as seen in this 1977 view of Mars. The shroud covered the surface sampler instrument and could be seen in images taken by the lander while it was active on the surface.

Gallery

From the Surface

MER-A Spirit rover lander
MER-B Opportunity's heat shield
MSL Curiosity self-portrait, 2016

From Orbit

Viking 1 lander in 2006 (HiRise)
Viking 2 lander in 2006 (HiRise)
Phoenix lander and heat-shield in 2009 (HiRise)
Mars Pathfinder seen from space by the MRO HiRISE

MER-B Opportunity lander in Eagle crater (2006)
Beagle 2, after 11 years found and showing that it made it to the surface but did not expand fully to transmit
Curiosity landing remnants
Schiaparelli remnants (2016)

Special Names for Landing Sites

Scientists and space agencies often give special names to the places where spacecraft land on Mars. These names can honor important people, events, or even the spacecraft itself!

Soviet Union Pennants: The Mars 2 and Mars 3 landers carried pennants (small flags) from the Soviet Union in 1971.
Memorial Stations: The Viking 1 lander (1976) was named the Thomas Mutch Memorial Station. The Viking 2 lander (1976) became the Gerald Soffen Memorial Station.
Carl Sagan Memorial Station: The base for the Mars Pathfinder mission, which included the Sojourner rover (1997), was named after the famous astronomer Carl Sagan.
Challenger and Columbia Memorial Stations: The landing areas for the Opportunity rover (2004) and the Spirit rover (2004) were named in memory of the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews.
Green Valley: The Phoenix lander (2008) landed in a place called Green Valley.
Bradbury Landing: The Curiosity rover's landing spot (August 6, 2012) was named Bradbury Landing. Because of how it landed, the actual hardware isn't right at this exact spot.
InSight Landing: The InSight lander (2018) landed at a site simply called InSight Landing.
Octavia E. Butler Landing: The landing site for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter (February 18, 2021) was named after the science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler.
Wright Brothers Field: This was the first take-off and landing spot for the Ingenuity helicopter, used for its first five flights in April and May 2021.
Three Forks Sample Depot: This is a special backup storage area for samples collected by the Perseverance rover in 2022. These samples are meant to be brought back to Earth by a future mission.

Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlaid with the position of Martian rovers and landers. Orange indicates active rovers, coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations of Martian surface.