Pick up to 4 vehicles to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.
Six missions have operated on the Martian surface since 1997 — three simultaneously in 2022.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency | NASA/JPL | CNSA | NASA/JPL |
| Status | Mission Complete | Hibernating | Mission Complete |
| Vehicle type | helicopter | rover | rover |
| Launch date | 2020-07-30 | 2020-07-23 | 2003-06-10 |
| Landing date | 2021-02-18 | 2021-05-22 | 2004-01-04 |
| Landing site | Wright Brothers Field, Jezero Crater (deployed from Perseverance) | Utopia Planitia | Gusev Crater |
| Launch mass | 1.8 kgas of [1] | 240 kgas of [1] | 185 kgas of [1] |
| Power system | Solar panels + 6 lithium-ion batteries | Solar panels + rechargeable battery | Solar panels + lithium-ion battery |
| Instruments | 2 cameras (color + navigation)as of [1]Navigation camera + color camera; no science instruments beyond imaging | 6 science instrumentsas of [1]Multispectral camera, terrain camera, subsurface radar (RoPeR), magnetometer, meteorological instrument, LIBS spectrometer | 5 science instruments + RAT drill + Magnet arraysas of [1]Pancam, Mini-TES, Mössbauer Spectrometer, APXS, Microscopic Imager |
| Distance traveled | ~11.6 kmas of [1]Total distance across 72 flights; final flight January 18, 2024 ↑ Farthest | 1.922 kmas of [1]Final confirmed odometry before entering hibernation for Martian winter | 7.73 kmas of [1]Final odometry before contact lost; rover became stuck in soft soil in 2009 |
| Mission outcome | First powered controlled flight on another planet — technology demonstration that exceeded all expectations. Originally planned for 5 test flights, completed 72 before a rotor blade broke in January 2024. Achieved altitudes up to 24 m and flight durations up to 169.5 seconds. | China's first successful Mars landing. Operated for 92 sols, traveling 1.922 km and collecting subsurface radar data suggesting ancient water ice deposits. Entered hibernation May 2022; CNSA has not publicly confirmed contact restoration as of mid-2026. | Landed in Gusev Crater and traversed 7.73 km over 2,208 sols — 24× its design lifetime. Found evidence of ancient hydrothermal activity at Home Plate. Became permanently immobile in soft soil in 2009; contact lost March 2010. |
All 6 surface vehicles with primary-source citations from NASA JPL, NASA NSSDCA, and CNSA. Pure URL state — bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.