List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
| Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MESSENGER |  United States | 30 April 2015 | Probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater Janáček | Intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
Venus
| Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 3 |  USSR | 1 March 1966 | Probably around -20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° E | First impact on the surface of another planet. Contact lost before atmospheric entry. |
| Venera 4 | USSR | 23 October 1967 | Estimated near 19°N 38°E.[1] | Crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact. |
| Venera 5 | USSR | 16 May 1969 | 3°S 18°E | Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact. |
| Venera 6 | USSR | 17 May 1969 | 5°S 23°E | Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact. |
| Venera 7 | USSR | 15 December 1970 | 5°S 351°E | First 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 8 | USSR | 22 July 1972 | Within 150 km radius of 10.70°S 335.25°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 50 minutes. |
| Venera 9 lander | USSR | 22 October 1975 | Within a 150 km radius of 31.01°N 291.64°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 53 minutes. First pictures from surface. |
| Venera 10 lander | USSR | 25 October 1975 | Within a 150 km radius of 15.42°N 291.51°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 65 minutes. |
| Pioneer Venus Multiprobe | USA |
9 December 1978 | Day Probe 31.3°S 317.0°E | Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 67 minutes.[2] |
| Night Probe 28.7°S 56.7°E | Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 2 seconds.[2] | |||
| North Probe 59.3°N 4.8°E | Signal lost upon impact. | |||
| Large probe 4.4°N 304.0°E | Signal lost upon impact. | |||
| Venera 12 lander | USSR | 21 December 1978 | 7°S 294°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 110 minutes. |
| Venera 11 lander | USSR | 25 December 1978 | 14°S 299°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 95 minutes. |
| Venera 13 lander | USSR | 1 March 1982 | 7.5°S 303°E | Soft 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.[3] |
| Venera 14 lander | USSR | 5 March 1982 | 13.25°S 310°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes. |
| Vega 1 lander | USSR | 11 June 1985 | 7.2°N 177.8°E | Soft landing; some instruments failed to return data. |
| Vega 2 lander | USSR | 15 June 1985 | 7.14°S 177.67°E | Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes. |
Mars
| Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mars 2 lander | USSR | 27 November 1971 | 45°S 30°W | First man-made object on Mars. No contact after crash landing. |
| Mars 3 lander | USSR | 2 December 1971 | 45°S 158°W | First soft landing on Mars. Transmission began about 90 seconds after landing.[4] Transmitted a partial image for 14.5 seconds before the signal was lost.[5] |
| Mars 6 lander | USSR | 12 March 1974 | 23.90°S 19.42°W | Contact lost at landing. |
| Viking 1 lander | USA | 20 July 1976 | 22.697°N 48.222°W | Successful soft landing. First to send images in color, as well as to perform in situ biological experiments with the Martian soil.[6] |
| Viking 2 lander | USA | 3 September 1976 | 48.269°N 134.010°E | Successful soft landing. |
| Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner rover | USA | 4 July 1997 | 19.13°N 33.22°W | First airbag landing on Mars and first Mars rover. |
| Mars Polar Lander and two penetrators Deep Space 2 | USA | 3 December 1999 | Contact lost prior to landing. | |
| Beagle 2 |  UK/ ESA | 25 December 2003 | 11.5265°N 90.4295°E | Successful soft landing. No contact due to solar "petals" not deploying fully, blocking antenna.[7] |
| MER-A Spirit | USA | 3 January 2004 | 14.5718°S 175.4785°E | Mars rover. Contact lost 22 March 2010. |
| MER-B Opportunity | USA | 25 January 2004 | 1.9462°S 5.5266°W | Mars rover. Contact lost 10 June 2018. |
| Phoenix | USA | 25 May 2008 | 68.2188°N 125.7492°W | Successful soft landing in the north polar region. |
| Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) | USA | 6 August 2012 | 4.5895°S 137.4417°E | Mars rover. Landed in Gale Crater. |
| ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander | ESA  RFSA | 19 October 2016 | 2.07°S 353.79°E | Contact lost after entry and parachute deployment, but before planned landing. Hard impact on the surface.[8] |
| InSight | USA |
26 November 2018 | 4.5°N 135.9°E | Successful soft landing. |
| Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter | USA |
18 February 2021 | 18.4447°N 77.4508°E | Mars rover and helicopter. Successful soft landing in Jezero Crater. Helicopter deployed from rover on 3 April 2021. |
| Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover |  China |
14 May 2021 | 25.1°N 109.9°E | Successful soft landing in Utopia Planitia. Zhurong rover deployed on 22 May 2021. |
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.
| Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galileo atmospheric probe | USA | 7 December 1995 | Atmospheric probe of Jupiter. |
| Galileo | USA | 21 September 2003 | 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.
| Mission | Country/ Agency | Date of landing/impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cassini orbiter | USA | 15 September 2017 | Main craft was intentionally directed at Saturn and disintegrated in Saturn's atmosphere |
Planetary moons
Earth's Moon
| Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luna 2 | USSR | 13 September 1959 | 29.1°N -0°E | Intentional hard impact. |
| Ranger 4 | USA | 26 April 1962 | 15.5°S 130.7°W | Unintentional hard impact; hit lunar far side due to failure of navigation system. |
| Ranger 6 | USA | 2 February 1964 | 9.4°N 21.5°E | Intentional hard impact. |
| Ranger 7 | USA | 31 July 1964 | 10.35°S 20.58°W | Intentional hard impact. |
| Ranger 8 | USA | 20 February 1965 | 2.72°N 24.61°E | Intentional hard impact. |
| Ranger 9 | USA | 24 March 1965 | 12.83°S 2.37°W | Intentional hard impact. |
| Luna 5 | USSR | 12 May 1965 | 31°S 8°W | Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon. |
| Luna 7 | USSR | 7 October 1965 | 9.8°N 47.8°W | Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon. |
| Luna 8 | USSR | 6 December 1965 | 9.6°N 62°W | Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon. |
| Luna 9 | USSR | 3 February 1966 | 7.13°N 64.37°W | First successful soft landing; first pictures from the surface. |
| Surveyor 1 | USA | 2 June 1966 | 2.47°S 43.33°W | Soft landing. |
| Surveyor 2 | USA | 23 September 1966 | 04.0°S 11.0°W | Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon. |
| Lunar Orbiter 1 | USA | 29 October 1966 | 6.35°N 160.72°E | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
| Luna 13 | USSR | 24 December 1966 | 18°52′N 62°3′W | Soft landing. |
| Surveyor 3 | USA | 20 April 1967 | 3.028175°S 23.458208°W | Soft landing. First lander visited by a later crewed mission (Apollo 12) that even brought its components. |
| Surveyor 4 | USA | 17 July 1967 | 0.45°N 1.39°W | Contact lost on descent. |
| Surveyor 5 | USA | 11 September 1967 | 1.46°N 23.20°E | Soft landing. |
| Surveyor 6 | USA | 10 November 1967 | 0.49°N 1.40°W | Soft landing. |
| Surveyor 7 | USA | 10 January 1968 | 40.86°S 11.47°W | Soft landing. |
| Apollo 11 | USA | 20 July 1969 | 0°40′26.69″N 23°28′22.69″E | First crewed landing on an extraterrestrial body. |
| Luna 15 | USSR | 21 July 1969 | 17°N 60°E | Possible attempted sample return; crashed into Moon.
Not a crewed mission. |
| Apollo 12 | USA | 18 November 1969 | 3.012389°S 23.421569°W | Crewed mission. |
| Apollo 13 | USA | 14 April 1970 | N/A | S-IVB stage crashed for seismic research (rocket stages from some other Apollo missions that successfully landed were also crashed in this manner[9]) |
| Luna 16 | USSR | 20 September 1970 | 0°41′S 56°18′E | First successful robotic sample return. |
| Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 | USSR | 17 November 1970 | 38°17′N 35°0′W | Robotic lunar rover. |
| Apollo 14 | USA | 5 February 1971 | 3°38′43.08″S 17°28′16.90″W | Crewed mission. |
| Apollo 15 | USA | 30 July 1971 | 26°7′55.99″N 3°38′1.90″E | Crewed mission; lunar rover. |
| Luna 18 | USSR | 11 September 1971 | 3°34′N 56°30′E | Failed attempt at sample return; probable crash-landing. |
| Luna 20 | USSR | 21 February 1972 | 3°32′N 56°33′E | Robotic sample return. |
| Apollo 16 | USA | 21 April 1972 | 8°58′22.84″S 15°30′0.68″E | Crewed mission; lunar rover. |
| Apollo 17 | USA | 7 December 1972 | 20°11′26.88″N 30°46′18.05″E | Crewed mission; lunar rover. Last crewed landing on extraterrestrial bodies to date. |
| Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 | USSR | 8 January 1973 | 25°51′N 30°27′E | Robotic lunar rover. |
| Luna 23 | USSR | 6 November 1974 | 12.6669°N 62.1511°E | Failed attempt at sample return; damaged on landing. Operated for 3 days on the surface. |
| Luna 24 | USSR | 18 August 1976 | 12°45′N 62°12′E | Robotic sample return. |
| Hiten |  Japan | 10 April 1993 | 34.3°S 55.6°E | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
| Lunar Prospector | USA | 31 July 1999 | 87.7°S 42.1°E | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed into polar crater at end of mission to test for liberation of water vapour (not detected). |
| SMART-1 | ESA | 3 September 2006 | 34.262°S 46.193°W[10] | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
| Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe |  India | 14 November 2008 | 89.55°S 122.93°W | Impactor. Water found. |
| SELENE Rstar (Okina) | Japan | 12 February 2009 | 28.213°N 159.033°W | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
| Chang'e 1 | China | 1 March 2009 | 1.50°S 52.36°E | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
| Kaguya | Japan | 10 June 2009 | 65.50°S 80.4°E[11] | Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission. |
| LCROSS (Centaur) | USA |
9 October 2009 | 84.675°S 48.725°W 84.729°S 49.360°W |
Impactors. Water confirmed. |
| LCROSS (Shepherding Spacecraft) | ||||
| Chang'e 3 | China | 14 December 2013 | 44.12°N 19.51°W | First soft landing on the Moon since 1976, lunar rover. |
| Chang'e 4 | China | 3 January 2019 | 45.5°S 177.6°E | First soft landing on the far side of the Moon, lunar rover. |
| Beresheet |  Israel | 11 April 2019 | 32.5956°N 19.3496°E | Israeli lunar lander crash landed on the Moon. |
| Chandrayaan-2 | India | 8 September 2019 | 70.8810°S 22.7840°E | First attempt to land near the Moon's south pole; lost contact at 2.1 km and crashed. |
| Chang'e 5 | China |
1 December 2020 | 43.0576°N 51.9161°W[12][13] | First lunar sample return mission by China. Sample successfully returned to Earth on 16 December 2020. |
| 7 December 2020 | 30°S 0°E[14] | Intentional impact of ascent stage after delivering sample to orbiter. | ||
| Hakuto-R Mission 1 | Japan |
25 April 2023 | 47.581°N 44.094°E | Unsuccessful attempt; contact was lost before landing alongside the lander being crash-landed. |
| Luna 25 | Russia | 19 August 2023 | 57.865°S 61.360°E | Unsuccessful attempt; crashed on lunar surface after failure during lunar orbit insertion. |
| Chandrayaan-3 | India | 23 August 2023 | 69.373°S 32.319°E[15] | Soft landing. First Indian soft landing. First soft landing in the south pole region of the Moon. Lunar rover. |
| Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) | Japan | 19 January 2024 | 13.316°S 25.251°E[16] | Soft landing. First Japanese soft landing. Two lunar rovers. |
| IM-1 Odysseus | USA | 22 February 2024 | 80.13°S 1.44°E[17] | First successful soft landing by a commercial lander (Nova-C lander made by Intuitive Machines). |
| Chang'e 6 | China |
1 June 2024 | 41.6385°S 153.9852°W[18] | First far side lunar sample return mission by China. Sample returned to Earth in June 2024. |
| 6 June 2024 | 39.0°S 180.0°E | Intentional impact of ascent stage conducted after delivering sample to orbiter. | ||
| Blue Ghost M1 TO 19D | USA | 2 March 2025 | 18.56°N 61.81°E[19] | Commercial Blue Ghost lander made by Firefly Aerospace. Successful soft landing at Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille. |
| IM-2 Athena | USA | 6 March 2025 | 85°S 31°W | Commercial Nova-C lander made by Intuitive Machines, damaged on landing. Operated for less than a day on the surface. |
| Hakuto-R Mission 2 Resilience | Japan | 5 June 2025 | 60.5°N 4.6°W | Commercial Hakuto-R lander made by ispace Inc.. Unsuccessful attempt; contact was lost before landing alongside the lander being crash-landed. |
| KLEP |  KOR | NET NET 2032 | Second mission of the Korean Lunar Exploration Program. |
Moons of Saturn
| Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huygens probe | ESA | 14 January 2005 | 10.2936°S 163.1775°E | Titan floating lander. Successful soft landing. Transmitted data for 90 minutes following landing. |
Other bodies
Asteroids
| Body | Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eros | NEAR Shoemaker | USA | 12 February 2001 | Designed 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 | Hayabusa | Japan | 19 November 2005 | Accidentally stayed for 30 min. |
| 25 November 2005 | Stayed for 1 sec. Sample return (very small amount of dust successfully returned to Earth). | |||
| Ryugu | Hayabusa2 | Japan | 21 September 2018 | MINERVA-II Rover-1A and Rover-1B, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface. |
 France /  Germany | 3 October 2018 | MASCOT rover, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface. | ||
| Japan | 21 February 2019 | Hayabusa2 first touchdown. Successfully collected sample from the surface. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020. | ||
| 5 April 2019 | Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI), fired at surface to create a crater from which to sample sub-surface material | |||
| April 2019 | Deployable 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 | OSIRIS-REx | USA |
20 October 2020 | OSIRIS-REx touchdown, collected sample from surface. Sample returned to Earth on 24 September 2023 |
| Dimorphos | Double Asteroid Redirection Test | USA | 26 September 2022 | Intentional hard impact. First Solar System body intentionally deviated (slightly) off its orbit.[20] |
Comets
| Body | Mission | Country/Agency | Date of landing/impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comet 9P/Tempel 1 | Deep Impact | USA | 4 July 2005 | Impactor. |
| Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Rosetta | ESA |
12 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. |
