In this video, we are going to look at 10 Mars Rovers and Landers sent to Mars by NASA. From the 1975 first NASA's Mars Lander to the 2020 Perseverance Rover. We will talk about their missions and findings/discoveries, cost, and more.
1. Viking 1 Lander
The Viking 1 Lander was NASA’s first lander to successfully land on Mars. The lander was part of NASA’s Viking Project whose mission was to study the Red Planet and search for signs of life.
The lander was accompanied by a Mars orbiter. They were both launched in Viking 1 spacecraft aboard a Titan III-Centaur launch vehicle on August 20, 1975, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
After an 11-month journey, the Viking 1 Lander landed on Mars on June 20, at Chryse Planitia - a smooth circular plain in the northern equatorial region of Mars.
2. Viking 2 Lander
The Viking 2 Lander was NASA’s second lander to successfully land on Mars. It was also part of NASA's Viking Project. It landed on Mars in September 1976 -- immediately after Viking 1.
Like its predecessor, the Viking 2 lander was accompanied by an orbiter. Both the lander and the orbiter were launched in Viking 2 spacecraft aboard a Titan III-Centaur launch vehicle on September 9, 1975, 20 days after Viking 1 was launched.
NASA estimates the cost for the entire Viking Project was about $7.1 billion when adjusted for inflation.
3. Sojourner
Sojourner was the first wheeled robotic Mars rover to land and operate on the red planet. Although the Soviet Union sent rovers to Mars in the 1970s, it was not able to operate them due to some malfunctions.
The Pathfinder spacecraft which consisted of the Sojourner rover inside a lander was launched on December 4, 1996, aboard a Delta II rocket. It landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, in Ares Vallis -- an outflow channel within the Chryse Planitia region.
The estimated costs for Sojourner and its lander were estimated to be USD $25 million and USD 150 million respectively.
4. Mars Polar Lander
The Mars Polar Lander, a.k.a the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a robotic spacecraft lander designed to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, the southern polar plain on Mars.
The lander was launched aboard a Delta II launch vehicle on January 3, 1999, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The total cost of the Mars Polar Lander mission was US$165 million.
5. Spirit
Spirit was one of two robotic Mars Exploration Rovers launched in 2003 to explore Mars and search for signs of past life.
Spirit was launched aboard Delta 7925 launch vehicle on June 10, 2003, from Cape Canaveral. It successfully landed on Mars on January 4, 2004, within the impact crater Gusev.
6. Opportunity
Opportunity was the second robotic rover launched in 2003 after Spirit. It had the same mission as Spirit; to explore Mars and search for signs of past life.
Launched on July 7, 2003, Oppy landed on Mars on January 25, 2004, in Meridiani Planum three weeks after its twin Spirit.
Adjusted for inflation, both Opportunity and Spirit missions had an estimated life-cycle cost of USD 1.2 billion.
7. Phoenix
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft sent to the surface of Mars to assess its local habitability and research the history of water.
The lander was launched on Aug 04, 2007, and landed on Mars on May 25, 2008.
The Phoenix mission cost was $386 million, including the cost of launch.
8. Curiosity
Curiosity is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars in order to find out if the crater has ever offered favorable environmental conditions for microbial life, and perform planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration.
Adjusted for inflation the estimated life-cycle cost for curiosity is USD 3.2 billion.
9. InSight
InSight is NASA’s robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars. Its goals are to understand formation and evaluation on Mars and to determine the level of tectonic activity on Mars.
According to NASA, InSight’s cost only 828.8 million USD.
10. Perseverance
Perseverance is an SUV-sized Mars robotic rover designed to look for signs of past microbial life, collect rock and soil samples, and prepare for future human exploration.
With an estimated cost of USD 2.9 billion, Perseverance is NASA's sixth-most expensive robotic planetary mission when Adjusted for inflation.
Chapters
00:00​ Intro
00:32 Viking 1 Lander
01:53 Viking 2 Lander
03:23 Sojourner
04:56 Mars Polar Lander
06:21 Spirit
07:44 Opportunity
09:29 Phoenix
10:42 Curiosity
12:35 InSight
14:16 Perseverance
16:09 Outro
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