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List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies

None

None

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

[[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]

Mercury

MissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactCoordinatesNotes
*MESSENGER*USA United States30 April 2015Probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater JanáčekIntentionally crashed at end of mission.

[[Venus]]

Venus

MissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactCoordinatesNotes
Venera 3USSR USSR1 March 1966Probably around -20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° EFirst impact on the surface of another planet. Contact lost before atmospheric entry.
Venera 4USSR USSR23 October 1967Estimated near .Crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 5USSR USSR16 May 1969Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 6USSR USSR17 May 1969Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 7USSR USSR15 December 1970First successful soft landing on another planet; transmitted from surface for 23 minutes.
The spacecraft definitively confirmed that humans cannot survive on the surface of Venus, and excluded the possibility of any liquid water on Venus.
Venera 8USSR USSR22 July 1972Within 150 km radius ofSoft landing; transmitted from surface for 50 minutes.
Venera 9 landerUSSR USSR22 October 1975Within a 150 km radius ofSoft landing; transmitted from surface for 53 minutes. First pictures from surface.
Venera 10 landerUSSR USSR25 October 1975Within a 150 km radius ofSoft landing; transmitted from surface for 65 minutes.
Pioneer Venus MultiprobeUSA USA9 December 1978Day Probetitle=Pioneer Venus Probesurl=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/pvprobes.html}}
Night Probe [28.7°S 56.7°E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Pioneer_Venus_Multiprobe&params=28.7_S_56.7_E_globe:Venus)Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 2 seconds.
North Probe [59.3°N 4.8°E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Pioneer_Venus_Multiprobe&params=59.3_N_4.8_E_globe:Venus)Signal lost upon impact.
Large probe [4.4°N 304.0°E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Pioneer_Venus_Multiprobe&params=4.4_N_304.0_E_globe:Venus)Signal lost upon impact.
Venera 12 landerUSSR USSR21 December 1978Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 110 minutes.
Venera 11 landerUSSR USSR25 December 1978Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 95 minutes.
Venera 13 landerUSSR USSR1 March 1982Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 127 minutes. First photographs in color of its surface, and it records atmospheric wind noises, the first sounds heard from another planet.
Venera 14 landerUSSR USSR5 March 1982Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes.
Vega 1 landerUSSR USSR11 June 1985Soft landing; some instruments failed to return data.
Vega 2 landerUSSR USSR15 June 1985Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes.

[[Mars]]

Mars

MissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactCoordinatesNotes
Mars 2 landerUSSR USSR27 November 1971First man-made object on Mars. No contact after crash landing.
Mars 3 landerUSSR USSR2 December 1971First soft landing on Mars. Transmission began about 90 seconds after landing. Transmitted a partial image for 14.5 seconds before the signal was lost.
Mars 6 landerUSSR USSR12 March 1974Contact lost at landing.
Viking 1 landerUSA USA20 July 1976Successful soft landing. First to send images in color, as well as to perform *in situ* biological experiments with the Martian soil.
Viking 2 landerUSA USA3 September 1976Successful soft landing.
Mars Pathfinder and *Sojourner* roverUSA USA4 July 1997First airbag landing on Mars and first Mars rover.
Mars Polar Lander and two penetrators Deep Space 2USA USA3 December 1999Contact lost prior to landing.
Beagle 2UK UK/
[[File:ESA logo simple.svg20px]] ESA25 December 2003Successful soft landing. No contact due to solar "petals" not deploying fully, blocking antenna.
MER-A *Spirit*USA USA3 January 2004Mars rover. Contact lost 22 March 2010.
MER-B *Opportunity*USA USA25 January 2004Mars rover. Contact lost 10 June 2018.
*Phoenix*USA USA25 May 2008Successful soft landing in the north polar region.
Mars Science Laboratory (*Curiosity*)USA USA6 August 2012Mars rover. Landed in Gale Crater.
ExoMars *Schiaparelli* EDM lander[[File:ESA logo simple.svg20px]] ESA
Russia RFSA19 October 2016Contact lost after entry and parachute deployment, but before planned landing. Hard impact on the surface.
InSightUSA USA26 November 2018Successful soft landing.
Mars 2020 *Perseverance* rover and *Ingenuity* helicopterUSA USA18 February 2021Mars rover and helicopter. Successful soft landing in Jezero Crater. Helicopter deployed from rover on 3 April 2021.
Tianwen-1 lander and *Zhurong* roverChina China14 May 2021Successful soft landing in Utopia Planitia. *Zhurong* rover deployed on 22 May 2021.

[[Jupiter]]

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
[*Galileo* atmospheric probe](1989-084e)USA USA7 December 1995Atmospheric probe of Jupiter.
*[Galileo](1989-084b)*USA USA21 September 2003Main craft was intentionally directed at Jupiter and disintegrated in Jovian atmosphere.

[[Saturn]]

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.

MissionCountry/ AgencyDate of landing/impactNotes
*Cassini* orbiterUSA USA15 September 2017Main craft was intentionally directed at Saturn and disintegrated in Saturn's atmosphere

Planetary moons

Earth's [[Moon]]

Moon landings

MissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactCoordinatesNotes
Luna 2USSR USSR13 September 1959Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 4USA USA26 April 1962Unintentional hard impact; hit lunar far side due to failure of navigation system.
Ranger 6USA USA2 February 1964Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 7USA USA31 July 1964Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 8USA USA20 February 1965Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 9USA USA24 March 1965Intentional hard impact.
Luna 5USSR USSR12 May 1965Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 7USSR USSR7 October 1965Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 8USSR USSR6 December 1965Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 9USSR USSR3 February 1966First successful soft landing; first pictures from the surface.
Surveyor 1USA USA2 June 1966Soft landing.
Surveyor 2USA USA23 September 1966Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Lunar Orbiter 1USA USA29 October 1966Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Luna 13USSR USSR24 December 1966Soft landing.
Surveyor 3USA USA20 April 1967Soft landing. First lander visited by a later crewed mission (Apollo 12) that even brought its components.
Surveyor 4USA USA17 July 1967Contact lost on descent.
Surveyor 5USA USA11 September 1967Soft landing.
Surveyor 6USA USA10 November 1967Soft landing.
Surveyor 7USA USA10 January 1968Soft landing.
Apollo 11USA USA20 July 1969First crewed landing on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 15USSR USSR21 July 1969Possible attempted sample return; crashed into Moon.
Apollo 12USA USA18 November 1969Crewed mission.
Apollo 13USA USA14 April 1970N/AS-IVB stage crashed for seismic research (rocket stages from some other Apollo missions that successfully landed were also crashed in this manner)
Luna 16USSR USSR20 September 1970First successful robotic sample return.
Luna 17/Lunokhod 1USSR USSR17 November 1970Robotic lunar rover.
Apollo 14USA USA5 February 1971Crewed mission.
Apollo 15USA USA30 July 1971Crewed mission; lunar rover.
Luna 18USSR USSR11 September 1971Failed attempt at sample return; probable crash-landing.
Luna 20USSR USSR21 February 1972Robotic sample return.
Apollo 16USA USA21 April 1972Crewed mission; lunar rover.
Apollo 17USA USA7 December 1972Crewed mission; lunar rover. Last crewed landing on extraterrestrial bodies to date.
Luna 21/Lunokhod 2USSR USSR8 January 1973Robotic lunar rover.
Luna 23USSR USSR6 November 1974Failed attempt at sample return; damaged on landing. Operated for 3 days on the surface.
Luna 24USSR USSR18 August 1976Robotic sample return.
HitenJPN Japan10 April 1993Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Lunar ProspectorUSA USA31 July 1999Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed into polar crater at end of mission to test for liberation of water vapour (not detected).
SMART-1[[File:ESA logo simple.svg20px]] ESA3 September 2006Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact ProbeIndia14 November 2008Impactor. Water found.
SELENE Rstar (Okina)Japan12 February 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chang'e 1China1 March 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
KaguyaJapan10 June 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
LCROSS (Centaur)USA9 October 2009
Impactors. Water confirmed.
LCROSS (Shepherding Spacecraft)
Chang'e 3China14 December 2013First soft landing on the Moon since 1976, lunar rover.
Chang'e 4China3 January 2019First soft landing on the far side of the Moon, lunar rover.
BeresheetIsrael11 April 2019Israeli lunar lander crash landed on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2India8 September 2019First attempt to land near the Moon's south pole; lost contact at 2.1 km and crashed.
Chang'e 5China1 December 2020First lunar sample return mission by China. Sample successfully returned to Earth on 16 December 2020.
7 December 2020Intentional impact of ascent stage after delivering sample to orbiter.
Hakuto-R Mission 1JPN Japan25 April 2023Unsuccessful attempt; contact was lost before landing alongside the lander being crash-landed.
Luna 25Russia19 August 2023Unsuccessful attempt; crashed on lunar surface after failure during lunar orbit insertion.
Chandrayaan-3India23 August 2023Soft landing. First Indian soft landing. First soft landing in the south pole region of the Moon. Lunar rover.
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)Japan19 January 2024Soft landing. First Japanese soft landing. Two lunar rovers.
IM-1 *Odysseus*USA22 February 2024First successful soft landing by a commercial lander (Nova-C lander made by Intuitive Machines).
Chang'e 6China1 June 2024First far side lunar sample return mission by China. Sample returned to Earth in June 2024.
6 June 2024Intentional impact of ascent stage conducted after delivering sample to orbiter.
Blue Ghost M1 TO 19DUSA2 March 2025Commercial Blue Ghost lander made by Firefly Aerospace. Successful soft landing at Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille.
IM-2 *Athena*USA6 March 2025Commercial Nova-C lander made by Intuitive Machines, damaged on landing. Operated for less than a day on the surface.
Hakuto-R Mission 2 ResilienceJapan5 June 2025Commercial Hakuto-R lander made by ispace Inc.. Unsuccessful attempt; contact was lost before landing alongside the lander being crash-landed.
KLEPKORNET NET 2032Second mission of the Korean Lunar Exploration Program.

[[Moons of Saturn]]

Moons of Saturn ;Titan

MissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactCoordinatesNotes
*Huygens* probe[[File:ESA logo simple.svg20px]] ESA14 January 2005Titan floating lander. Successful soft landing. Transmitted data for 90 minutes following landing.

Other bodies

[[Asteroids]]

Asteroids

BodyMissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactNotes
[Eros](433-eros)*NEAR Shoemaker*USA USA12 February 2001Designed as an orbiter, but an improvised landing was carried out on completion of the main mission. Transmission from the surface continued for about 16 days.
[Itokawa](25143-itokawa)*Hayabusa*JPN Japan19 November 2005Accidentally stayed for 30 min.
25 November 2005Stayed for 1 sec. Sample return (very small amount of dust successfully returned to Earth).
[Ryugu](162173-ryugu)*Hayabusa2*JPN Japan21 September 2018*MINERVA-II* Rover-1A and Rover-1B, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
France France / Germany Germany3 October 2018MASCOT rover, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
JPN Japan21 February 2019*Hayabusa2* first touchdown. Successfully collected sample from the surface. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.
5 April 2019Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI), fired at surface to create a crater from which to sample sub-surface material
April 2019Deployable Camera 3, photographed the impact created by the Small carry-on Impactor. Presumed to have fallen on the asteroid.
11 July 2019*Hayabusa2* second touchdown. Successfully collected sub-surface material sample from the crater created by the SCI. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.
October 2019*MINERVA-II* Rover-2, failed before deployment, so it was released in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.
[Bennu](101955-bennu)*OSIRIS-REx*USA USA20 October 2020*OSIRIS-REx* touchdown, collected sample from surface. Sample returned to Earth on 24 September 2023
DimorphosDouble Asteroid Redirection TestUSA USA26 September 2022Intentional hard impact. First Solar System body intentionally deviated (slightly) off its orbit.

[[Comets]]

Comets

BodyMissionCountry/AgencyDate of landing/impactNotes
Comet 9P/Tempel 1*Deep Impact*USA USA4 July 2005Impactor.
[Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko](67p-churyumov-gerasimenko)*Rosetta*[[File:ESA logo simple.svg20px]] ESA12 November 2014Philae 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 2016The *Rosetta* orbiter was intentionally crashed into the comet.

References

References

  1. Brian Harvey. (2007). "Russian planetary exploration". Springer.
  2. "Pioneer Venus Probes".
  3. "NSSDC Master Catalog - Venera 13 Descent Craft". NASA National Space Science Data Center.
  4. "Mars 2, 3 (Mars M71 #1, #2, #3)".
  5. "Mars 3".
  6. Williams, David R. Dr.. (December 18, 2006). "Viking Mission to Mars". [[NASA]].
  7. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886 "Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars"], ''BBC News'', 16 January 2015
  8. (3 November 2016). "Schiaparelli crash site in colour". European Space Agency.
  9. [https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/28apr_skyisfalling.htm "The Sky is Falling"] {{webarchive. link. (2010-04-02 , NASA, April 28, 2006)
  10. Klesman, Alison. (22 September 2017). "New observations reveal a lunar orbiter's final resting place".
  11. "Result of controlled drop of lunar orbiter "KAGUYA (SELENE)"". JAXA.
  12. Williams, David R.. (7 December 2018). "Future Chinese Lunar Missions". NASA.
  13. Jones, Andrew. (7 June 2017). "China confirms landing site for Chang'e-5 Moon sample return". GB Times.
  14. (8 December 2020). "Chang'e-5 spacecraft smashes into moon after completing mission". SpaceNews.
  15. (27 August 2023). "Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next?".
  16. "SLIM Project Press Kit".
  17. Robinson, Mark. (February 26, 2024). "Intuitive Machines IM-1 On The Moon!".
  18. (2024-06-14). "First Look: Chang'e 6". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.
  19. "Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Firefly)". [[NASA]].
  20. (27 September 2022). "NASA's DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test". NASA.
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