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 | CNSA | NASA/JPL | NASA/JPL |
| Status | Hibernating | Mission Complete | Mission Complete |
| Vehicle type | rover | rover | rover |
| Launch date | 2020-07-23 | 1996-12-04 | 2003-07-07 |
| Landing date | 2021-05-22 | 1997-07-04 | 2004-01-25 |
| Landing site | Utopia Planitia | Ares Vallis, Chryse Planitia | Eagle Crater, Meridiani Planum |
| Launch mass | 240 kgas of [1] | 10.6 kgas of [1] | 185 kgas of [1] |
| Power system | Solar panels + rechargeable battery | Solar panels + non-rechargeable lithium thionyl chloride batteries | Solar panels + lithium-ion battery |
| Instruments | 6 science instrumentsas of [1]Multispectral camera, terrain camera, subsurface radar (RoPeR), magnetometer, meteorological instrument, LIBS spectrometer | 3 science instruments (APXS ×2, ASI/MET) + 3 camerasas of [1]Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer (fore/aft), Atmospheric Structure Instrument/Meteorology Package | 5 science instruments + RAT drill + Magnet arraysas of [1]Same instrument suite as Spirit: Pancam, Mini-TES, Mössbauer, APXS, MI |
| Distance traveled | 1.922 kmas of [1]Final confirmed odometry before entering hibernation for Martian winter | 0.1 km (100 metres)as of [1]Traveled ~100 m over 83 sols; contact lost when lander base station batteries depleted | 45.16 kmas of [1]Mars distance record for a surface vehicle; final odometry at last contact ↑ Farthest |
| Mission outcome | 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. | First Mars rover in history. Deployed by the Mars Pathfinder lander on July 4, 1997, Sojourner operated 83 sols — nearly 12× its 7-sol design lifetime. Its APXS instrument analyzed 16 rocks and soil patches, including 'Barnacle Bill' and 'Yogi', revealing andesite-like compositions suggesting a more geochemically differentiated volcanic history than expected. The mission proved roving exploration on Mars was feasible. | 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. |
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.