Mars landing

For broader coverage of this topic, see Exploration of Mars.

Animation of a Mars landing touchdown, the InSight lander in 2018

A Mars landing is a landing of a spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Of multiple attempted Mars landings by robotic, uncrewed spacecraft, ten have had successful soft landings. There have also been studies for a possible human mission to Mars including a landing, but none have been attempted.

As of 2023, the Soviet Union, United States and China have conducted Mars landings successfully.[1] Soviet Mars 3, which landed in 1971, was the first successful Mars landing, though the spacecraft failed after 110 seconds on the surface. All other Soviet Mars landing attempts failed.[2] Viking 1 and Viking 2 were first successful NASA landers, launched in 1975. NASA's Mars Pathfinder, launched in 1996, successfully delivered the first Mars rover, Sojourner. In 2021, first Chinese lander and rover, Tianwen 1, successfully landed on Mars.

  1. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Historical Log | Missions". NASA Mars Exploration. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  2. ^ Heil, Andy (2 August 2020). "The Soviet Mars Shot That Almost Everyone Forgot". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 20 December 2023.