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 | NASA/JPL | NASA/JPL |
| Status | Mission Complete | Mission Complete | Mission Complete |
| Vehicle type | rover | rover | helicopter |
| Launch date | 2003-06-10 | 2003-07-07 | 2020-07-30 |
| Landing date | 2004-01-04 | 2004-01-25 | 2021-02-18 |
| Landing site | Gusev Crater | Eagle Crater, Meridiani Planum | Wright Brothers Field, Jezero Crater (deployed from Perseverance) |
| Launch mass | 185 kgas of [1] | 185 kgas of [1] | 1.8 kgas of [1] |
| Power system | Solar panels + lithium-ion battery | Solar panels + lithium-ion battery | Solar panels + 6 lithium-ion batteries |
| Instruments | 5 science instruments + RAT drill + Magnet arraysas of [1]Pancam, Mini-TES, Mössbauer Spectrometer, APXS, Microscopic Imager | 5 science instruments + RAT drill + Magnet arraysas of [1]Same instrument suite as Spirit: Pancam, Mini-TES, Mössbauer, APXS, MI | 2 cameras (color + navigation)as of [1]Navigation camera + color camera; no science instruments beyond imaging |
| Distance traveled | 7.73 kmas of [1]Final odometry before contact lost; rover became stuck in soft soil in 2009 | 45.16 kmas of [1]Mars distance record for a surface vehicle; final odometry at last contact ↑ Farthest | ~11.6 kmas of [1]Total distance across 72 flights; final flight January 18, 2024 |
| Mission outcome | 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. | Traversed 45.16 km across Meridiani Planum — a world distance record for surface vehicles. Found sedimentary evidence of standing liquid water at Eagle Crater. Reached Endeavour Crater rim in 2011, 9 km from landing site. Contact lost in a 2018 global dust storm after 14+ years of operations. | 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. |
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.