List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies explained

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.

Colour key:

 - Unsuccessful soft landing, intentional hard landing, or mission still in progress.
 - 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

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Jupiter is a gas giant with a very large atmospheric pressure and internal temperature and thus there is no known hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts on Jupiter.

MissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactNotes
Atmospheric probe of Jupiter.
Galileo Main craft was intentionally directed at Jupiter and disintegrated in Jovian atmosphere.

Saturn

Saturn is a gas giant with a very large atmospheric pressure and internal temperature and thus there is no known hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts on Saturn.

Planetary moons

Earth's Moon

Moons of Mars

Phobos

Moons of Saturn

Titan

Other bodies

Asteroids

Comets

BodyMissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactCoordinatesNotes
Deep Impact USA 4 July 2005 Impactor.
Rosetta ESA12 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.
29 September 2016 The Rosetta orbiter was intentionally crashed into the comet.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: 98–101 . Russian planetary exploration . Brian Harvey . Springer . 2007 . 978-0-387-46343-8.
  2. Web site: Pioneer Venus Probes .
  3. Web site: NSSDC Master Catalog - Venera 13 Descent Craft . NASA National Space Science Data Center . 13 April 2013.
  4. Web site: Mars 2, 3 (Mars M71 #1, #2, #3) .
  5. Web site: Mars 3 . 2010-05-28.
  6. Web site: Williams . David R. Dr. . Viking Mission to Mars . December 18, 2006 . . February 2, 2014.
  7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886 "Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars"
  8. Web site: Schiaparelli crash site in colour . European Space Agency . 15 January 2017 . 3 November 2016.
  9. https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/28apr_skyisfalling.htm "The Sky is Falling"
  10. Web site: Williams . David R. . 7 December 2018 . Future Chinese Lunar Missions . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190104200441/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/cnsa_moon_future.html . 2019-01-04 . NASA.
  11. Web site: Andrew . Jones . 7 June 2017 . China confirms landing site for Chang'e-5 Moon sample return . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190328154816/https://gbtimes.com/china-confirms-landing-site-change-5-moon-sample-return . 28 March 2019 . 17 December 2017 . GB Times.
  12. Web site: Chang'e-5 spacecraft smashes into moon after completing mission . 8 December 2020 . SpaceNews . 2020-12-11.
  13. Web site: Archived copy . 25 August 2023 . 8 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230908075454/https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2308.pdf . live .
  14. Web site: Robinson . Mark . Intuitive Machines IM-1 On The Moon! . February 26, 2024 . 2024-02-26 . www.lroc.asu.edu.
  15. Web site: First Look: Chang'e 6. 2024-06-14. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera . en . 2024-06-15 .
  16. Web site: 27 September 2022 . NASA's DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test . NASA.