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Mars rover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject Mars or the Mars Portal may be able to help recruit one. |
A Mars rover is an unmanned rover used for exploration of the planet Mars. They are deployed because it has so far been too costly and difficult to achieve a manned mission to Mars, and because probes and satellites are too limited (due to their immobility or their distance from the surface, respectively) to explore the Martian surface.
Five rovers have been sent to Mars so far, and two are currently scheduled to be launched:
- Mars 2 Prop-M rover, 1971
- Mars 3 Prop-M rover, 1971
- Sojourner rover, Mars Pathfinder, July 4, 1997
- Spirit, Mars Exploration Rover, January 4, 2004
- Opportunity, Mars Exploration Rover, January 25, 2004
- Mars Science Laboratory
- ExoMars
Mars 2 and 3 landers launched in 1971 had small 4.5 kg Mars "rovers" on board called Prop-M, which would move across the surface on skis while connected to the lander with a 15-meter umbilical. Because of the demise of the landers, neither rover saw action.
The first successful Mars Rover, called Sojourner, was sent to Mars by NASA on December 4, 1996 and successfully landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. The Chief of Engineering for this Rover team was NASA's Jacob Matijevic.
NASA used a new, larger design for the two Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit, launched on June 10, 2003, and Opportunity, launched on July 7, 2003. Spirit landed in Gusev crater on January 4, 2004 and Opportunity landed in the Meridiani Planum on the opposite side of Mars from Spirit, on January 25, 2004.
So far all Mars Rovers have been small robotic vehicles intended to travel only a few hundred meters. All three NASA rovers have exceeded their planned missions both in distance traveled and operating time.
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| Flybys | Mariner 4 • Mariner 6 • Mariner 7 • Mars 4 • Rosetta • Dawn |  |
| Orbiters | Mariner 9 • Mars 2 • Mars 3 • Mars 5 • Mars 6 • Viking 1 • Viking 2 • Phobos 2 • Mars Global Surveyor Mars Odyssey • Mars Express Orbiter • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter |
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| Landers and Rovers | Mars 3 • Viking 1 • Viking 2 • Mars Pathfinder • Spirit rover • Opportunity rover • Phoenix | |
| Future missions | Mars Science Laboratory (2009) • Phobos-Grunt & Yinghuo-1 (2009) Mars Scout (2013) • Mars Science and Telecommunications Orbiter (2013) • ExoMars (2013) • Astrobiology Field Laboratory (2016) • Mars Sample Return Mission (2024?) |
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| See also | Mars • Exploration of Mars • Colonization of Mars · Failed Mars Missions | |
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(Bold: Active missions)
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