(c) 2015 by Barton Paul Levenson
Human beings have now landed probes, manned or unmanned or both, on eight (8) bodies of the Solar system as of Wednesday, 12/23/2020. I will update this list whenever we add another one.
NB: A landing is counted as successful if the lander operated, however briefly, after landing. Thus Mars 3 edges out Viking 2 (9/09/1975) because Mars 3 did operate for about 20 seconds after landing on Mars. On the other hand, the Venera 3 landing (3/01/1966) involved lost contact and an almost certain crash landing.
| World | Type | Launch Date | Landing Date | Mission | Lander | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luna | moon | 09/12/1959 | 09/14/1959 | Luna 2 | Luna 2 | USSR |
| Venus | planet | 08/17/1970 | 12/15/1970 | Venera 7 | Venera 7 | USSR |
| Mars | planet | 05/28/1971 | 12/03/1971 | Mars 3 | Mars 3 | USSR |
| 433 Eros | asteroid | 02/17/1996 | 02/12/2001 | NEAR-Shoemaker | NEAR-Shoemaker | NASA |
| Titan | moon | 10/15/1997 | 01/14/2005 | Cassini | Huygens | NASA, ESA, ASI |
| 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko | comet | 03/02/2004 | 11/12/2014 | Rosetta | Philae | ESA |
| 162173 Ryugu | asteroid | 12/02/2014 | 09/21/2018 | Hyabusa2 | HIBOU/OWL | JAXA |
| 101955 Bennu | asteroid | 09/08/2016 | 10/21/2020 | OSIRIS-REx | Tagsam | NASA |
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ASI | Agenzia Spaziale Italiana |
| ESA | European Space Agency |
| JAXA | Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NEAR | Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous |
| USSR | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
| Page created: | 01/17/2015 |
| Last modified: | 12/23/2020 |
| Author: | BPL |