Rover ( space exploration ) - Wikipedia Rover ( space exploration ) See also : Lunar rover and Mars rover Three different Mars rover designs ; Sojourner, MER and Curiosity. Curiosity 's wheels on Mars, 2017 A rover ( or sometimes planetary rover ) is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other celestial body. Some rovers have been designed to transport members of a human spaceflight crew ; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers usually arrive at the planetary surface on a lander - style spacecraft. Rovers are created to land on another planet, besides Earth, to find out information and to take samples. They can collect dust, rocks, and even take pictures. They are very useful for exploring the universe. Contents 1 Comparison with space probes of other types 2 Features 2.1 Reliability 2.2 Compactness 2.3 Autonomy 2.4 Non-wheeled approaches 3 History 3.1 Lunokhod 0 ( No. 201 ) 3.2 Lunokhod 1 3.3 Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle 3.4 Lunokhod 2 3.5 Prop - M Rover 3.6 Lunokhod 3 3.7 Marsokhod 3.8 Sojourner 3.9 Beagle 2 Planetary Undersurface Tool 3.10 Mars Exploration Rover A Spirit 3.11 Chang'e 3 's Yutu Rover 4 Active rover missions 4.1 Active rover locations in context 4.2 Mars Exploration Rover B Opportunity 4.3 Mars Science Laboratory Rover Curiosity 5 Planned rover missions 5.1 Chandrayaan 2 5.2 TeamIndus Rover 5.3 ExoMars Rover 5.4 Mars 2020 rover mission 6 See also 7 References Comparison with space probes of other types Comparison of distances driven by various wheeled vehicles on the surface of Earth 's moon and Mars ( NASA, 15 May 2013 ; updated version of 28 Jul 2014 ). Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers : they examine more territory and they can be directed to interesting features. If they are solar powered, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months. They can also advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control which is necessarily semi-autonomous due to the finite speed of light. Their advantages over orbiting spacecraft are that they can make observations to a microscopic level and can conduct physical experimentation. Disadvantages of rovers compared to orbiters are the higher chance of failure, due to landing and other risks, and that they are limited to a small area around a landing site which itself is only approximately anticipated. Features Rovers arrive on spacecraft and are used in conditions very distinct from those on the Earth, which makes some demands on their design. Reliability Rovers have to withstand high levels of acceleration, high and low temperatures, pressure, dust, corrosion, cosmic rays, remaining functional without repair for a needed period of time. Mars rover Sojourner in cruise configuration Compactness Rovers are usually packed for placing in a spacecraft, because it has limited capacity, and has to be deployed. They are also attached to a spacecraft, so devices for removing these connections are installed. Autonomy Rovers which land on celestial bodies far from the Earth, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, can not be remotely controlled in real - time since the speed at which radio signals travel is far too slow for real time or near - real time communication. For example, sending a signal from Mars to Earth takes between 3 and 21 minutes. These rovers are thus capable of operating autonomously with little assistance from ground control as far as navigation and data acquisition are concerned, although they still require human input for identifying promising targets in the distance to which to drive, and determining how to position itself to maximize solar energy. Giving a rover some rudimentary visual identification capabilities to make simple distinctions can allow engineers to speed up the reconnaissance. During the NASA Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge, a rover, named Cataglyphis, successfully demonstrated autonomous navigation, decision - making, and sample detection, retrieval, and return capabilities. Non-wheeled approaches Other rover designs that do not use wheeled approaches are possible. Mechanisms that utilize `` walking '' on robotic legs, hopping, rolling, etc. are possible. For example, Stanford University researchers have proposed `` Hedgehog '', a small cube - shaped rover that can controllably hop -- or even spin out of a sandy sinkhole by corkscrewing upward to escape -- for surface exploration of low gravity celestial bodies. History Landing sites of sample return and rover missions Lunokhod 0 ( No. 201 ) The Soviet rover was intended to be the first roving remote - controlled robot on the Moon, but crashed during a failed start of the launcher 19 February 1969. Lunokhod 1 Main article : Lunokhod 1 The Lunokhod 1 rover landed on the Moon in November 1970. It was the first roving remote - controlled robot to land on any celestial body. The Soviet Union launched Lunokhod 1 aboard the Luna 17 spacecraft on November 10, 1970, and it entered lunar orbit on November 15. The spacecraft soft - landed in the Sea of Rains region on November 17. The lander had dual ramps from which Lunokhod 1 could descend to the lunar surface, which it did at 06 : 28 UT. From November 17, 1970 to November 22, 1970 the rover drove 197 m, and during 10 communication sessions returned 14 close up pictures of the Moon and 12 panoramic views. It also analyzed the lunar soil. The last successful communications session with Lunokhod 1 was on September 14, 1971. Having worked for 11 months, Lunokhod 1 held the durability record for space rovers for more than 30 years, until a new record was set by the Mars Exploration Rovers. Apollo 15 Lunar Rover Apollo lunar roving vehicle Main article : Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle NASA included Lunar Roving Vehicles in three Apollo missions : Apollo 15 ( which landed on the Moon July 30, 1971 ), Apollo 16 ( which landed April 21, 1972 ) and Apollo 17 ( which landed December 11, 1972 ). Lunokhod 2 The Lunokhod 2 Lunar Rover Main article : Lunokhod 2 The Lunokhod 2 was the second of two unmanned lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of the Lunokhod program. The rover became operational on the Moon on January 16, 1973. It was the second roving remote - controlled robot to land on any celestial body. The Soviet Union launched Lunokhod 2 aboard the Luna 21 spacecraft on January 8, 1973, and it entered narayana space orbital in by NOVA THE MASS TEAM on January 12, 1973. The spacecraft soft - landed in the eastern edge of the Mare Serenitatis region on January 15, 1973. Lunokhod 2 descended from the lander 's dual ramps to the lunar surface at 01 : 14 UT on January 16, 1973. Lunokhod 2 operated for about 4 months, covered 39 km ( 24 mi ) of terrain, including hilly upland areas and rilles, and sent back 86 panoramic images and over 80,000 TV pictures. Based on wheel rotations Lunokhod 2 was thought to have covered 37 km ( 23 mi ) but Russian scientists at the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography ( MIIGAiK ) have revised that to an estimated distance of about 42.1 -- 42.2 km ( 26.2 -- 26.2 mi ) based on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ( LRO ) images of the lunar surface. Subsequent discussions with their American counterparts ended with an agreed - upon final distance of 39 km ( 24 mi ), which has stuck since. Prop - M Rover Prop - m rover Main articles : Mars 2 and Mars 3 The Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3 landers each had a small 4.5 kg Mars rover on board, which would have moved across the surface on skis while connected to the lander with a 15 - meter umbilical. Two small metal rods were used for autonomous obstacle avoidance, as radio signals from Earth would have taken too long to drive the rovers using remote control. The rover was planned to be placed on the surface after landing by a manipulator arm and to move in the field of view of the television cameras and stop to make measurements every 1.5 meters. The rover tracks in the Martian soil would also have been recorded to determine material properties. Because of the crash landing of Mars 2 and the communication failure ( 15 seconds post landing ) of Mars 3, neither rover was deployed. Lunokhod 3 The Soviet rover was intended to be the third roving remote - controlled robot on the Moon in 1977. The mission was canceled due to lack of launcher availability and funding, although the rover was built. Marsokhod The Marsokhod was a heavy Soviet rover ( hybrid, with both controls telecommand and automatic ) aimed at Mars, part of the Mars 4NM and scheduled to be released ( after 1973 according to the plans of 1970 ) launched by a N1 rocket that never arrived to fly successfully. Sojourner on Mars Sojourner Main articles : Sojourner ( rover ) and Mars Pathfinder The Mars Pathfinder mission included Sojourner, the first rover to successfully deploy on another planet. NASA, the space agency of the United States, launched Mars Pathfinder on 4 December 1996 ; it landed on Mars in a region called Chryse Planitia on 4 July 1997. From its landing until the final data transmission on 27 September 1997, Mars Pathfinder returned 16,500 images from the lander and 550 images from Sojourner, as well as data from more than 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil and extensive data on winds and other weather factors. Beagle 2 planetary Undersurface Tool Beagle 2 was designed to explore Mars with a small `` mole '' ( Planetary Undersurface Tool, or PLUTO ), to be deployed by the arm. PLUTO had a compressed spring mechanism designed to enable it to move across the surface at a rate of 20 mm per second and to burrow into the ground and collect a subsurface sample in a cavity in its tip. Beagle 2 failed while attempting to land on Mars in 2003. Mars exploration rover a spirit Main article : Spirit rover Spirit 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 ( MER - B ), landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA - sponsored student essay competition. The rover became stuck in late 2009, and its last communication with Earth was sent on March 22, 2010. Chang'e 3 's Yutu rover Main article : Yutu ( rover ) Chang'e 3 is a Chinese Moon mission that includes a robotic lunar rover Yutu, named after the pet rabbit of Chang'e, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology. Launched in 2013 with the Chang'e 3 mission, it is China 's first lunar rover, the first soft landing on the Moon since 1976 and the first rover to operate there since the Soviet Lunokhod 2 ceased operations on 11 May 1973. It was deployed on the Moon on December 14, 2013 and the rover encountered operational difficulties toward the end of the second lunar day after surviving and recovering successfully the first 14 - day lunar night ( about a month on the Moon ), and was unable to move after the end of the second lunar night, though it continued to gather useful information for some months afterward. In October 2015, Yutu set the record for the longest operational period for a rover on the Moon. On 31 July 2016, Yutu ceased to operate after a total of 31 months, well beyond its original expected lifespan of three months. Active rover missions Active rover locations in context Interactive imagemap of the global topography of Mars, overlain with locations of Mars landers and rovers ( Red label = Rover ; Blue label = Lander ; bold red / blue = currently active ). Hover your mouse to see the names of over 25 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA 's Mars Global Surveyor. Reds and pinks are higher elevation ( + 3 km to + 8 km ) ; yellow is 0 km ; greens and blues are lower elevation ( down to − 8 km ). Whites ( > + 12 km ) and browns ( > + 8 km ) are the highest elevations. Axes are latitude and longitude ; Poles are not shown. ( See also : Mars map & Mars Memorials & Mars Memorials map ) ( view discuss ) ← Beagle 2 ( 2003 ) Curiosity ( 2012 ) → Deep Space 2 ( 1999 ) → Mars 2 ( 1971 ) → ← Mars 3 ( 1971 ) Mars 6 ( 1973 ) → Polar Lander ( 1999 ) ↓ ↑ Opportunity ( 2004 ) ← Phoenix ( 2008 ) Schiaparelli EDM ( 2016 ) → ← Sojourner ( 1997 ) Spirit ( 2004 ) ↑ Viking 1 ( 1976 ) → Viking 2 ( 1976 ) → Mars Exploration Rover Mars Exploration Rover B Opportunity Main article : Opportunity rover Opportunity is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA 's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Launched from Earth on July 7, 2003, it landed on the Martian Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004 at 05 : 05 Ground UTC ( about 13 : 15 local time ), three weeks after its twin Spirit ( MER - A ) touched down on the other side of the planet. On July 28, 2014, NASA announced that Opportunity, after having traveled over 40 km ( 25 mi ) on the planet Mars, has set a new `` off - world '' record as the rover having driven the greatest distance, surpassing the previous record held by the Soviet Union 's Lunokhod 2 rover that had traveled 39 km ( 24 mi ). ( related image ) Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity Main article : Curiosity ( rover ) Mars Science Laboratory On 26 November 2011, NASA 's Mars Science Laboratory mission was successfully launched for Mars. The mission successfully landed the robotic Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in August 2012, whereupon the rover is currently helping to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, and search for evidence of past or present life on Mars. Planned rover missions This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( August 2018 ) Chandrayaan 2 Main article : Chandrayaan - 2 The Chandrayaan - 2 is a mission by India, consisting of a lunar orbiter, a lander, and a rover. An opportunity was given to students to design this rover. 150 students submitted their designs but only 6 were selected. The Indian - designed rover weighs 20 kg, will have six wheels and will run on solar power. It will land near one of the lunar poles and will operate for two weeks. The proposed launch is in January 2019. TeamIndus rover Main article : TeamIndus TeamIndus, a private aerospace startup based out of Bangalore, is building a lunar mission comprising a lunar lander and rover. Originally started as a competitor for the $30 M Google Lunar X Prize, the competition ended without a winner, but TeamIndus still plans on launching their spacecraft sometime in 2019. The solar - powered rover has four wheels and will be equipped with a number of cameras including CASPEX micro-camera from CNES. The rover will operate for a maximum of one lunar day or fourteen Earth days. ExoMars rover Main article : ExoMars rover The European Space Agency ( ESA ) is currently designing and carrying out early prototyping and testing of the ExoMars rover. As of 2017, the rover is scheduled for launch in 2020. Mars 2020 rover mission Main article : Mars 2020 rover mission Mars 2020 rover design infographic detailing cameras The Mars 2020 rover mission is a Mars rover under development by NASA with a launch planned for 2020. It is intended to investigate an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars, investigate its surface geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability and potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geological materials. See also Google Lunar X Prize Lander ( spacecraft ) LORAX Lunar rover Mars rover ( Manned ) Tank on the Moon References Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rovers ( space exploration ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` Exploring The Planets - Tools of Exploration - Rovers ''. Air and Space Museum. 2002. Retrieved 3 January 2013. ^ Jump up to : Michael Schirber ( 8 July 2012 ). `` Rovers of the future may make decisions on their own ''. Astrobiology Magazine. Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 10. Jump up ^ Hall, Loura ( 2016 - 09 - 08 ). `` NASA Awards $750 K in Sample Return Robot Challenge ''. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 17. Jump up ^ Chipman, Ian ( 2016 - 02 - 08 ). `` Meet `` Hedgehog '' : Engineers build cube - like rover for exploration of asteroids, comets ``. Phys.org. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Lunar Lost & Found : The Search for Old Spacecraft ''. www.space.com. Retrieved 2009 - 03 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Luna 17 and Lunokhod 1 ''. www.zarya.info. 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Jump up ^ McKirdy, Euan ( 13 February 2014 ). `` Down but not out : Jade Rabbit comes back from the dead ''. CNN. Jump up ^ Jeff Foust ( 30 October 2015 ). `` China 's Immobile Rover Passes a Purely Figurative Milestone ''. SpaceNews. Jump up ^ An ( 29 October 2015 ). `` China 's first moon rover sets record for longest stay ''. Xinhua. Jump up ^ Webster, Guy ; Brown, Dwayne ( July 28, 2014 ). `` NASA Long - Lived Mars Opportunity Rover Sets Off - World Driving Record ''. NASA. Retrieved July 29, 2014. Jump up ^ Knapp, Alex ( July 29, 2014 ). `` NASA 's Opportunity Rover Sets A Record For Off - World Driving ''. Forbes. Retrieved July 29, 2014. Jump up ^ NASA Staff ( 26 November 2011 ). `` Mars Science Laboratory ''. NASA. Retrieved 2011 - 11 - 26. Jump up ^ Associated Press ( 26 November 2011 ). `` NASA Launches Super-Size Rover to Mars : ' Go, Go ! ' ''. New York Times. Retrieved 2011 - 11 - 26. 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Spacecraft missions to Mars Current Flybys Mars Cube One ( en route ) Orbiters ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Mangalyaan Mars Express Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter MAVEN 2001 Mars Odyssey Landers InSight ( en route ) Rovers Curiosity timeline Opportunity observations Past Flybys Dawn Mariner 4 Mariner 6 Mariner 7 Mars 1 Mars 6 Mars 7 Nozomi Rosetta Zond 2 Orbiters Mariner 9 Mars 2 Mars 3 Mars 4 Mars 5 Mars Climate Orbiter Mars Global Surveyor Mars Observer Phobos program Phobos 1 Phobos 2 Viking program Viking 1 Viking 2 Landers Beagle 2 ExoMars Schiaparelli Mars 2 Mars 3 Mars 6 Mars 7 Mars Pathfinder Mars Polar Lander / Deep Space 2 Phoenix Viking 1 Viking 2 Rovers Prop - M Sojourner Spirit observations Mars - crossing orbit tests Zond 3 Elon Musk 's Tesla Roadster Failed launch Fobos - Grunt / Yinghuo - 1 Kosmos 419 1M No. 1 1M No. 2 2MV - 4 No. 1 2MV - 3 No. 1 Mariner 3 2M No. 521 2M No. 522 Mariner 8 Mars 96 Planned Hope Mars Mission ( 2020 ) ExoMars ( 2020 ) rover surface platform Mars 2020 ( 2020 ) Mars Helicopter Scout Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover ( 2020 ) Mars Terahertz Microsatellite ( 2020 ) Mars Orbiter Mission 2 ( 2021 or 2022 ) Psyche ( 2023, flyby only ) MMX ( 2024 ) Proposed BOLD Icebreaker Life Inspiration Mars Mars 2022 Mars Geyser Hopper Mars - Grunt Mars Micro Orbiter ‎ Mars One Mars sample return mission MELOS rover MetNet Northern Light PADME Phootprint SCIM Sky - Sailor Cancelled / concepts ARES Astrobiology Field Laboratory Beagle 3 Mars 4NM & 5NM Mars 5M ( Mars - 79 ) Mars - Aster Mars Astrobiology Explorer - Cacher Mars Surveyor Lander Mars Telecommunications Orbiter NetLander Red Dragon Vesta Voyager Related Colonization of Mars Exploration of Mars List of artificial objects on Mars List of Mars orbiters Mars race Terraforming of Mars indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned. Spacecraft missions to the Moon Programs American Apollo Commercial Lunar Payload Services Lunar Orbiter Lunar Precursor Pioneer Ranger Surveyor Chinese ( CLEP ) Indian ( Chandrayaan ) Japanese Russian Luna - Glob Soviet Crewed Luna Zond Lunokhod Current Orbiters ARTEMIS Chang'e 5 - T1 ( Service Module ) Longjiang - 2 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Past Orbiters Apollo 8 10 Apollo 15 Subsatellite ( PFS - 1 ) Apollo 16 Subsatellite ( PFS - 2 ) Chandrayaan - 1 Chang'e 1 Chang'e 2 Clementine Explorer 35 Explorer 49 GRAIL ( Ebb & Flow ) Hiten LADEE Luna 10 11 12 14 19 22 Lunar Orbiter 1 5 Lunar Prospector SELENE ( Kaguya, Okina & Ouna ) SMART - 1 Flybys 4M Apollo 13 AsiaSat - 3 Cassini -- Huygens Chang'e 5 - T1 ( Xiaofei ) Galileo Geotail ICE Longjiang - 1 Luna 1 Luna 3 Mariner 10 Nozomi Pioneer 4 Pioneer 10 Ranger 5 STEREO TESS WIND WMAP Zond 3 5 6 7 8 Impactors LCROSS Luna 2 MIP Ranger 4 6 7 8 9 Landers Apollo Lunar Module x6 ALSEP ( x5 ) and EASEP ( x1 ) Chang'e 3 Luna 9 13 17 21 Surveyor 1 5 6 7 Rovers Apollo 15 16 17 Lunokhod 1 Yutu Sample return Apollo 11 12 14 15 16 17 Luna 16 20 24 Human landing Apollo 11 12 14 15 16 17 Planned EM - 1 ( 2020 ) Orion ArgoMoon BioSentinel Cislunar Explorers CuSP CU - E EQUULEUS LunaH - Map Lunar Flashlight Lunar IceCube NEA Scout OMOTENASHI SkyFire Team Miles Luna - Glob Luna 25 ( 2021 ) Luna 26 ( 2022 ) Luna 27 ( 2023 ) Luna 28 Luna 29 Others Chandrayaan - 2 ( 2018 ) Chang'e 4 ( 2018 ) Sparrow ( 2018 ) Chang'e 5 ( 2019 ) MX - 1E ( 2019 ) PTScientists ( 2019 ) Astrobotic / Hakuto / AngelicvM ( 2020 ) Chang'e 6 ( 2020 ) SLIM ( 2021 ) DESTINY ( 2022 ) EM - 2 ( 2023 ) EM - 3 ( 2023 + ) Proposed Baden - Württemberg 1 Blue Origin Blue Moon DSE - Alpha International Lunar Network Lunar Lander Lunar Mission One Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway Lunar Orbital Station MoonLITE OpenLuna SELENE - R Synergy Moon TeamIndus Cancelled Altair European Lunar Explorer LEO LK Lunar - A Lunar Observer Lunokhod 3 MoonRise Prospector Resource Prospector SpaceX lunar tourism mission Ukrselena See also Colonization of the Moon Exploration of the Moon Google Lunar X Prize List of Apollo astronauts List of lunar probes List of artificial objects on the Moon List of missions to the Moon Lunar rover Moon landing Conspiracy theories Crewed missions in italics. Lunar rovers Past Lunokhod Lunokhod 0 ( 1A ) ( 1969, failed at start ) Lunokhod 1 ( 1970 ) Lunokhod 2 ( 1973 ) Lunokhod 3 ( 1977, cancelled ) Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle Apollo 15 ( 1971 ) Apollo 16 ( 1972 ) Apollo 17 ( 1972 ) CLEP Yutu ( 2013 -- 15 ) Planned Chang'e 4 rover ( 2018 ) Chandrayaan - 2 rover ( 2019 ) Audi Lunar Quattro ( PTScientists ) ( 2019 ) Andy ( Astrobotic Technology ) / Sorato ( Hakuto ) / Unity ( Team AngelicvM ) ( 2020 ) SLIM rover ( 2021 ) SELENE - R rover ( 2022 ) Proposed ATHLETE ECA ( TeamIndus ) Luna - Grunt rover Resource Prospector Scarab Space Exploration Vehicle Related Tank on the Moon ( 2007 documentary ) List of missions to the Moon Mars rover Rover ( space exploration ) GND : 7743594 - 1 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rover_(space_exploration)&oldid=854599709 '' Categories : Off - road vehicles Spacecraft Planetary rovers Soviet inventions Russian inventions Space robots Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Wikipedia articles in need of updating from August 2018 All Wikipedia articles in need of updating Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2017 All articles containing potentially dated statements Articles needing additional references from January 2008 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Català Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Lëtzebuergesch Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Svenska తెలుగు Türkçe Українська 中文 21 more Edit links This page was last edited on 12 August 2018, at 14 : 13 ( UTC ). 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Question: a wheeled robot used for exploring the surface of a celestial body is called
Answer: rover (or sometimes planetary rover)