List of artificial objects on Mars
Encyclopedia
The following table is a partial list of artificial objects on the surface of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

, consisting of spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....

 which were launched from Earth. Most are defunct after having served their purpose, but the Opportunity rover
Opportunity rover
Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...

 is still operational as of 2011. The Phoenix
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008...

 lander is the most recent man-made object to land safely on Mars. The list does not currently include smaller objects such as springs, fragments, parachutes, heatshields. The landers of the MER rover
Rover (space exploration)
A rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other astronomical body. Some rovers have been designed to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots...

s, or other mission objects may be included in the future.

Man-made object Image Nationality Landed Mass (kg) Location
Mars 2
Mars 2
The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s.The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander; they were the first human artifacts to impact the surface of Mars...

 1
USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

1971 1210 45°S 313°W
Mars 3
Mars 3
The Mars 3 was an unmanned space probe of the Mars program, a series of unmanned Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s....

 2
USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

1971 1210 Sirenum Terra, 45°S 158°W
Mars 6
Mars probe program
The Mars program was a series of unmanned spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore Mars, and included flyby probes, landers and orbiters....

 1
USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

1973 635 Margaritifer Terra
Margaritifer Terra
Margaritifer Terra is an ancient, heavily cratered region of Mars. It is centered just south of the Martian equator at and covers 2600 km at its widest extent. The area reveals "chaos terrain", outflow channels, and alluvial plains that are indicative of massive flooding. Wind erosion patterns are...

, 23.90°S 19.42°W
Viking 1 lander
Viking 1
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. It was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission, and until May 19, 2010 held the record for the second longest Mars surface mission of 6 years and 116 days .- Mission :Following...

United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

1976 657 Chryse Planitia
Chryse Planitia
Chryse Planitia is a smooth circular plain in the northern equatorial region of Mars close to the Tharsis region to the west, centered at . Chryse Planitia lies partially in the Lunae Palus quadrangle and partially in the Oxia Palus quadrangle...

, 22.697°N 48.222°W
Viking 2 lander
Viking 2
The Viking 2 mission was part of the American Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission. The Viking 2 lander operated on the surface for 1,281 Mars days and was turned off on 11 April 1980 when its batteries failed...

United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

1976 657 Utopia Planitia
Utopia Planitia
Utopia Planitia is the largest recognized impact basin on Mars with an estimated diameter of 3300 km, and is the Martian region where the Viking 2 lander touched down and began exploring on September 3, 1976. It is located at the antipode of Argyre Planitia, centered at...

, 48.269°N 225.990°W
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...

 lander & Sojourner rover
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

1997 360 Ares Vallis
Ares Vallis
Ares Vallis is an outflow channel on Mars, named after the Greek name for Mars: Ares, the god of war; it appears to have been carved by fluids, perhaps water...

, 19.33°N 33.55°W
Mars Climate Orbiter
Mars Climate Orbiter
The Mars Climate Orbiter was a 338 kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998 to study the Martian climate, atmosphere, surface changes and to act as the communications relay in the Mars Surveyor '98 program, for Mars Polar Lander...

 3
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

1999 629 Destroyed by atmospheric stresses & friction.
Mars Polar Lander
Mars Polar Lander
The Mars Polar Lander, also referred to as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander, launched by NASA on January 3, 1999, to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars, as part of the Mars Surveyor '98 mission...

 & Deep Space 2
Deep Space 2
Deep Space 2 was a NASA probe which was part of the New Millennium Program. It included two highly advanced miniature space probes which were sent to Mars aboard the Mars Polar Lander in January 1999. The probes were named "Scott" and "Amundsen", in honor of Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen,...

 1
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

1999 500 Ultimi Scopuli
Ultimi Scopuli
Ultimi Scopuli is a region near the south pole of Mars. It is characterized by a large number of scopuli .The northernmost part of the region was the landing site of the failed Mars Polar Lander spacecraft in 1999....

, 76°S 195°W
Spirit rover
Spirit rover
Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...

 (MER-A)
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

2004 1063 Gusev crater
Gusev crater
Gusev is a crater on the planet Mars and is located at . The crater is about 166 kilometers in diameter and formed approximately three to four billion years ago. It was named after Russian astronomer Matvei Gusev in 1976....

, 14.5718°S 175.4785°E
Opportunity rover
Opportunity rover
Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...

 (MER-B)4
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

2004 1063 Meridiani Planum
Meridiani Planum
Meridiani Planum is a plain located 2 degrees south of Mars' equator , in the westernmost portion of Terra Meridiani. It hosts a rare occurrence of gray crystalline hematite...

, 1.9462°S 354.4734°E
Phoenix Mars Lander
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008...

United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

2008 350 Vastitas Borealis
Vastitas Borealis
Vastitas Borealis is the largest lowland region of Mars. It is in the northerly latitudes of the planet and encircles the northern polar region. Vastitas Borealis is often simply referred to as the Northern plains or Northern lowlands of Mars. The plains lie 4–5 km below the mean radius of...

, unofficially named Green Valley
Green Valley (Mars)
Green Valley is a region on Mars within Vastitas Borealis that was chosen as the landing site of NASA's Phoenix lander. It is located at 68.35 degrees north, 233 degrees east. The valley is about 50 kilometres wide but only about 250 metres deep; either it was filled in or was never any deeper than...

, 68.15°N 125.9°W
Total estimated dry mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...

 (kg)
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...

8,403

  • The Beagle 2
    Beagle 2
    Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. All contact with it was lost upon its separation from the Mars Express six days before its scheduled entry into the atmosphere...

     spacecraft may have hit Mars while attempting to land on 25 December 2003 and parts of the spaceship may have reached the surface of Mars; although it may have bounced off the Martian atmosphere, or missed the planet entirely. It is not confirmed to be on the surface of Mars. Beagle 2 was targeted for the Isidis Planitia basin (about 90 degrees East, 10 degrees North).


The following is a map of landings on Mars.

See also

  • List of artificial objects on extra-terrestrial surfaces
  • Exploration of Mars
    Exploration of Mars
    The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...

  • Timeline of planetary exploration
  • Life on Mars
    Life on Mars
    Scientists have long speculated about the possibility of life on Mars owing to the planet's proximity and similarity to Earth. Fictional Martians have been a recurring feature of popular entertainment of the 20th and 21st centuries, but it remains an open question whether life currently exists on...

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