A Mars Rover is an unmanned land vehicle for exploration of the planet Mars.

The first Mars Rover, called Sojourner, was sent to Mars by NASA on December 4, 1996 and successfully landed on Mars on July 4, 1997.

NASA used a new, larger design for the second and third Mars Rovers: Spirit (launched on June 10, 2003 at 1:59 p.m. EDT) and Opportunity (launched on July 7, 2003 at 11:18 p.m. EDT). The rovers were launced with the Delta II rocket.

The European Space Agency launched its own space probe to Mars. Beagle 2 reached the red planet 2003-12-25 , but no contact with it could be established; the mission was unsuccessful.

So far all Mars Rovers have been small robotic vehicles intended to travel only a few hundred meters. All three NASA rovers have exceeded their planned missions both in distance travelled and operating time.

External link

• Rover NASA Homepage