List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies

This is a list of all spacecraft landings on other planets and bodies in the Solar System, including soft landings and both intended and unintended hard impacts. The list includes orbiters that were intentionally crashed, but not orbiters which later crashed in an unplanned manner due to orbital decay.

Landings

Colour key:

– Successful soft landing with intelligible data return. The tannish hue indicates extraterrestrial soil.

– Successful soft landing, intelligible data return, and sample return to Earth. The greenish hue indicates terrestrial return.

– Successful soft landing, data/voice/video communication, sample return to Earth, and safe astronaut landing and return to Earth.

Planets

Mercury

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
MESSENGER	United States	30 April 2015	Probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater Janáček	Intentionally crashed at end of mission.

Venus

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
Venera 3	USSR	1 March 1966	Probably around -20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° E	First impact on the surface of another planet. Contact lost before atmospheric entry.
Venera 4	USSR	23 October 1967	Estimated near 19°N 38°E.[1]	Crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 5	USSR	16 May 1969	3°S 18°E	Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 6	USSR	17 May 1969	5°S 23°E	Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 7	USSR	15 December 1970	5°S 351°E	First successful soft landing on another planet; transmitted from surface for 23 minutes, The spacecraft definitively confirmed that humans cannot survive on the surface of Venus, and excluded the possibility that there is any liquid water on Venus.
Venera 8	USSR	22 July 1972	Within 150 km radius of 10.70°S 335.25°E / -10.70; 335.25	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 50 minutes.
Venera 9 lander	USSR	22 October 1975	Within a 150 km radius of 31.01°N 291.64°E / 31.01; 291.64	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 53 minutes. First pictures from surface.
Venera 10 lander	USSR	25 October 1975	Within a 150 km radius of 15.42°N 291.51°E / 15.42; 291.51	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 65 minutes.
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe	USA	9 December 1978	Day Probe 31.3°S 317.0°E / -31.3; 317.0	Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 67 minutes.[2]
			Night Probe 28.7°S 56.7°E	Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 2 seconds.[2]
			North Probe 59.3°N 4.8°E	Signal lost upon impact.
			Large probe 4.4°N 304.0°E	Signal lost upon impact.
Venera 12 lander	USSR	21 December 1978	7°S 294°E	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 110 minutes.
Venera 11 lander	USSR	25 December 1978	14°S 299°E	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 95 minutes.
Venera 13 lander	USSR	1 March 1982	7.5°S 303°E / -7.5; 303	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 127 minutes.
Venera 14 lander	USSR	5 March 1982	13.25°S 310°E / -13.25; 310	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes.
Vega 1 lander	USSR	11 June 1985	7.2°N 177.8°E / 7.2; 177.8	Soft landing; some instruments failed to return data.
Vega 2 lander	USSR	15 June 1985	7.14°S 177.67°E / -7.14; 177.67	Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes.

Mars

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
Mars 2 lander	USSR	27 November 1971	45°S 30°W	First man-made object on Mars. No contact after crash landing.
Mars 3 lander	USSR	2 December 1971	45°S 158°W	First soft landing on Mars. Transmission began about 90 seconds after landing.[3] Transmitted a partial image for 14.5 seconds before the signal was lost. [4]
Mars 6 lander	USSR	12 March 1974	23.90°S 19.42°W / -23.90; -19.42	Contact lost at landing.
Viking 1 lander	USA	20 July 1976	22.697°N 48.222°W / 22.697; -48.222	Successful soft landing.
Viking 2 lander	USA	3 September 1976	48.269°N 134.010°E / 48.269; 134.010	Successful soft landing.
Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner rover	USA	4 July 1997	19.13°N 33.22°W / 19.13; -33.22	First airbag landing on Mars and first Mars rover.
Mars Polar Lander and two penetrators Deep Space 2	USA	3 December 1999	73°N 210°W	Contact lost prior to landing.
Beagle 2	UK/ ESA	25 December 2003	11.5265°N 90.4295°E / 11.5265; 90.4295	Successful soft landing. No contact due to solar "petals" not deploying fully, blocking antenna.[5]
MER-A 'Spirit'	USA	3 January 2004	14.5718°S 175.4785°E / -14.5718; 175.4785	Mars rover. Contact lost 22 March 2010.
MER-B 'Opportunity'	USA	25 January 2004	1.9462°S 5.5266°W / -1.9462; -5.5266	Mars rover. Contact lost 10 June 2018.
Phoenix	USA	25 May 2008	68.2188°N 125.7492°W / 68.2188; -125.7492	Successful soft landing in the north polar region.
Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)	USA	6 August 2012	4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417	Mars Rover. Landed in Gale Crater.
ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander	ESA RFSA	19 October 2016	2.07°S 353.79°E / -2.07; 353.79	Contact lost after entry and parachute deployment, but before planned landing. Hard impact on the surface.[6]
InSight	USA	26 November 2018	4.5°N 135.9°E / 4.5; 135.9 (InSight landing site)	Successful soft landing.

Jupiter

Since Jupiter is a gas planet, there is no hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts to Jupiter.

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Notes
Galileo atmospheric probe	USA	7 December 1995	Atmospheric probe of Jupiter.
Galileo	USA	21 September 2003	Main craft was intentionally directed at Jupiter and disintegrated in Jovian atmosphere.

Saturn

Since Saturn is a gas planet, there is no hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts to Saturn.

Mission	Country/ Agency	Date of landing/impact	Notes
Cassini orbiter	USA	15 September 2017	Main craft was intentionally directed at Saturn and disintegrated in Saturn's atmosphere

Planetary moons

Earth's Moon

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
Luna 2	USSR	13 September 1959	29.1°N -0°E / 29.1; -0	Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 4	USA	26 April 1962	15.5°S 130.7°W / -15.5; -130.7	Unintentional hard impact; hit lunar far side due to failure of navigation system.
Ranger 6	USA	2 February 1964	9.4°N 21.5°E / 9.4; 21.5	Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 7	USA	31 July 1964	10.35°S 20.58°W / -10.35; -20.58	Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 8	USA	20 February 1965	2.72°N 24.61°E / 2.72; 24.61	Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 9	USA	24 March 1965	12.83°S 2.37°W / -12.83; -2.37	Intentional hard impact.
Luna 5	USSR	12 May 1965	31°S 8°W	Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 7	USSR	7 October 1965	9.8°N 47.8°W / 9.8; -47.8	Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 8	USSR	6 December 1965	9.6°N 62°W / 9.6; -62	Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 9	USSR	3 February 1966	7.13°N 64.37°W / 7.13; -64.37	First successful soft landing; first pictures from the surface.
Surveyor 1	USA	2 June 1966	2.47°S 43.33°W / -2.47; -43.33	Soft landing.
Surveyor 2	USA	23 September 1966		Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Lunar Orbiter 1	USA	29 October 1966		Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Luna 13	USSR	24 December 1966	18°52′N 62°3′W	Soft landing.
Surveyor 3	USA	20 April 1967	3.028175°S 23.458208°W / -3.028175; -23.458208	Soft landing. First lander visited by a later crewed mission (Apollo 12).
Surveyor 4	USA	17 July 1967		Contact lost on descent.
Surveyor 5	USA	11 September 1967	1.46°N 23.20°E / 1.46; 23.20	Soft landing.
Surveyor 6	USA	10 November 1967	0.49°N 1.40°W / 0.49; -1.40	Soft landing.
Surveyor 7	USA	10 January 1968	40.86°S 11.47°W / -40.86; -11.47	Soft landing.
Apollo 11	USA	20 July 1969	0°40′26.69″N 23°28′22.69″E	First crewed landing on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 15	USSR	21 July 1969		Possible attempted sample return; crashed into Moon. Not a crewed mission.
Apollo 12	USA	18 November 1969	3.012389°S 23.421569°W / -3.012389; -23.421569	Crewed mission.
Apollo 13	USA	14 April 1970		S-IVB stage crashed for seismic research (rocket stages from some other Apollo missions that successfully landed were also crashed in this manner[7])
Luna 16	USSR	20 September 1970	0°41′S 56°18′E	First successful robotic sample return.
Luna 17/Lunokhod 1	USSR	17 November 1970	38°17′N 35°0′W	Robotic lunar rover.
Apollo 14	USA	5 February 1971	3°38′43.08″S 17°28′16.90″W	Crewed mission.
Apollo 15	USA	30 July 1971	26°7′55.99″N 3°38′1.90″E	Crewed mission; lunar rover.
Luna 18	USSR	11 September 1971		Failed attempt at sample return; probable crash-landing.
Luna 20	USSR	21 February 1972	3°32′N 56°33′E	Robotic sample return.
Apollo 16	USA	21 April 1972	8°58′22.84″S 15°30′0.68″E	Crewed mission; lunar rover.
Apollo 17	USA	7 December 1972	20°11′26.88″N 30°46′18.05″E	Crewed mission; lunar rover. Last crewed landing on extraterrestrial bodies to date.
Luna 21/Lunokhod 2	USSR	8 January 1973	25°51′N 30°27′E	Robotic lunar rover.
Luna 23	USSR	6 November 1974		Failed attempt at sample return; damaged on landing. Operated for 3 days on the surface.
Luna 24	USSR	18 August 1976	12°45′N 62°12′E	Robotic sample return.
Hiten	Japan	10 April 1993		Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Lunar Prospector	USA	31 July 1999	87.7°S 42.1°E / -87.7; 42.1	Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed into polar crater at end of mission to test for liberation of water vapour (not detected).
SMART-1	ESA	3 September 2006		Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe	India	14 November 2008		Impactor. Water found.
SELENE Rstar (Okina)	Japan	12 February 2009		Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chang'e 1	China	1 March 2009		Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Kaguya	Japan	10 June 2009		Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
LCROSS (Centaur)	USA	9 October 2009	84.675°S 48.725°W / -84.675; -48.725 84.729°S 49.360°W / -84.729; -49.360	Impactors. Water confirmed.
LCROSS (Shepherding Spacecraft)	USA	9 October 2009		Impactors. Water confirmed.
Chang'e 3	China	14 December 2013	44.12°N 19.51°W / 44.12; -19.51	First soft landing on moon since 1976, lunar rover.
Chang'e 4	China	3 January 2019	45.5°S 177.6°E / -45.5; 177.6	First soft landing on the far side of the moon, lunar rover.
Beresheet	Israel	11 April 2019		Israeli lunar lander crash landed on the moon.
Chandrayaan-2	India	8 September 2019		First attempt to land near moon's south pole; lost contact at 2.1 km and crashed.
Chang'e 5	China	1 December 2020 (lander+ascender)		First lunar sample return mission by China. Ascent stage deorbited on 7 December 2020. Capsule successfully returned sample via service module on 16 December 2020.
Chang'e 5	China	7 December 2020 (deorbit of ascender)

Moons of Mars

Phobos

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
Phobos 2	USSR	February 1989 (planned)		Phobos landing was planned but never attempted due to loss of contact

Moons of Saturn

Titan

Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
Huygens probe	ESA	14 January 2005	10.2936°S 163.1775°E / -10.2936; 163.1775	Titan floating lander. Successful soft landing. Transmitted data for 90 minutes following landing.

Other bodies

Asteroids

Body	Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Coordinates	Notes
Eros	NEAR Shoemaker	USA	12 February 2001		Designed as an orbiter, but an improvised landing was carried out on completion of the main mission. Transmission from the surface continued for about 16 days.
Itokawa	Hayabusa	Japan	19 November 2005		Accidentally stayed for 30 min.
Itokawa	Hayabusa	Japan	25 November 2005		Stayed for 1 sec. Sample return (very small amount of dust successfully returned to Earth).
Ryugu	Hayabusa2	Japan	21 September 2018		MINERVA-II Rover-1A and Rover-1B, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
		France / Germany	3 October 2018		MASCOT rover, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
		Japan	21 February 2019		Hayabusa2 first touchdown, successfully collected sample from the surface.
			5 April 2019		Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI), fired at surface to create a crater from which to sample sub-surface material
			April 2019		Deployable Camera 3, photographed the impact created by the Small carry-on Impactor. Presumed to have fallen on the asteroid.
			11 July 2019		Hayabusa2 second touchdown, successfully collected sub-surface material sample from the crater created by the SCI.
			October 2019		MINERVA-II Rover-2, failed before deployment, so it was released in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.
Bennu	OSIRIS-REx	USA	20 October 2020	56°N 43°E	OSIRIS-REx touchdown, collected sample from surface.

Comets

Body	Mission	Country/Agency	Date of landing/impact	Notes
Comet 9P/Tempel 1	Deep Impact	USA	4 July 2005	Impactor.
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko	Rosetta	ESA	12 November 2014	Philae lander. Successful soft landing, but anchors misfired and Philae bounced multiple times before coming to rest. Philae transmitted briefly but could not maintain power due to its awkward landing.
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko	Rosetta	ESA	29 September 2016	The Rosetta orbiter was intentionally crashed into the comet.

References

Brian Harvey (2007). Russian planetary exploration. Springer. pp. 98–101. ISBN 0-387-46343-7.
"Pioneer Venus Probes".
"Mars 2, 3 (Mars M71 #1, #2, #3)".
"Mars 3". Retrieved 28 May 2010.
"Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars", BBC News, 16 January 2015
"Schiaparelli crash site in colour". European Space Agency. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
"The Sky is Falling" Archived 2010-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, NASA, April 28, 2006

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[v1-1] Brian Harvey (2007). Russian planetary exploration. Springer. pp. 98–101. ISBN 0-387-46343-7.

[:0-2] "Pioneer Venus Probes".

[3] "Mars 2, 3 (Mars M71 #1, #2, #3)".

[Mars3-4] "Mars 3". Retrieved 28 May 2010.

[5] "Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars", BBC News, 16 January 2015

[6] "Schiaparelli crash site in colour". European Space Agency. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.

[7] "The Sky is Falling" Archived 2010-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, NASA, April 28, 2006