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| Landing sites on Mars | |
|---|---|
| Planet | Mars |
| First landing | Viking 1 |
| Notable sites | Gale Crater, Elysium Planitia, Jezero Crater, Valles Marineris |
Landing sites on Mars
Landing sites on Mars are geographically defined locations where robotic Viking, Viking 2, Mars Pathfinder, MER-B Opportunity, MER-A Spirit, Curiosity, Perseverance, InSight, Phoenix and other missions have touched down, and where future missions by NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, ISRO, CNSA, JAXA and private companies such as SpaceX may attempt landings. Selection of sites involves coordination among organizations such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, European Space Agency, Roscosmos, and scientific communities represented by panels from the National Academies and the International Astronomical Union.
Landing sites encompass plains, craters, valleys and highlands across provinces like Tharsis, Hellas Planitia, Amazonis Planitia, Utopia Planitia, Acidalia Planitia, Elysium Planitia, Chryse Planitia and Margaritifer Terra. Criteria for selection have evolved through programs including Mariner program, Viking program, Mars Exploration Rover program and Mars Science Laboratory. Site designation is influenced by orbital assets — Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and MAVEN — and by remote sensing from instruments such as HiRISE, CRISM, CTX and THEMIS.
Historic robotic landings occurred at Chryse Planitia for Viking 1, Utopia Planitia for Viking 2, Ares Vallis for Mars Pathfinder, Gusev Crater for Spirit, Meridiani Planum for Opportunity, and Gale Crater for Curiosity. Recent sites include Jezero Crater for Perseverance and Elysium Planitia for InSight. Proposed or studied robotic sites include Mawrth Vallis, Nili Fossae, Valles Marineris chasms, Hellas Planitia lowlands, Arsia Mons flanks, Isidis Planitia, Xanthe Terra, Noachis Terra and Syrtis Major Planum in mission concept studies by NASA Ames Research Center, European Space Agency teams, Indian Space Research Organisation, CNSA planning, and private mission proposals.
Human mission candidate sites emphasize resources and accessibility: equatorial plains like Amazonis Planitia and Elysium Planitia were examined by NASA Human Exploration and Operations Directorate studies, while polar and mid-latitude sites such as Arcadia Planitia, Utopia Planitia, Deuteronilus Mensae and Hellas Planitia appear in NASA Design Reference Architecture and Mars Direct influenced proposals. Candidate landing zones considered in Global Exploration Roadmap exercises, Mars Sample Return precursor studies, and NASA Mars Architecture Strategy include Jezero Crater rim regions, Nili Fossae exposures, and the Tharsis volcanic province near Olympus Mons for in-situ resource utilization assessments.
Site selection panels from NASA, ESA and the International Astronomical Union evaluate scientific return, engineering feasibility, and planetary protection as articulated by COSPAR and guidance from the National Research Council. Assessments use datasets from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, MAVEN and instruments like SHARAD radar, HiRISE, CTX and CRISM to model terrain, slope, rock abundance, and subsurface ice. Trade studies conducted by teams at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center and university consortia weigh entry, descent and landing constraints against scientific priorities defined by advisory bodies such as the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group.
Cratered highlands in Noachis Terra and Margaritifer Terra preserve ancient terrains important to Noah's Ark? investigations and were targeted for ancient fluvio-lacustrine records like those in Gale Crater and Jezero Crater. Volcanic provinces such as Tharsis and Elysium record igneous processes studied by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter teams and Mars Odyssey spectroscopy, while outflow channels at Ares Vallis, Kasei Valles and Mawrth Vallis inform paleohydrology explored by Curiosity and proposed missions from European Space Agency and NASA. Polar layered deposits in Planum Boreum and Planum Australe are central to climate and volatile cycle studies referenced by MAVEN science results.
Engineering constraints include elevation limits driven by entry corridor aerobraking studied at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Ames Research Center, atmospheric density profiles measured by MAVEN and Mars Climate Orbiter era datasets, surface slope and rock abundance characterized by HiRISE and CTX, and thermal conditions influenced by seasonal cycles tracked by Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Landing system heritage from Viking program, Mars Pathfinder, MER and Mars Science Laboratory informs design trade-offs for airbags, sky-crane maneuvers, retropropulsive descent concepts tested in Mars Ascent Vehicle studies, and precision landing efforts pursued with technologies developed by Lockheed Martin and SpaceX.
Geologic targets include sedimentary sequences in Gale Crater and Jezero Crater, phyllosilicate-bearing units at Mawrth Vallis and Nili Fossae, basaltic provinces at Syrtis Major Planum and Elysium Planitia, and glacial or ice-related landforms in Deuteronilus Mensae and Utopia Planitia. Astrobiological interest centers on past aqueous environments investigated by Perseverance sample caching, biosignature preservation potential at Jezero Crater and Mawrth Vallis, and subsurface habitats probed indirectly by radar instruments like SHARAD and by landed experiments from missions such as Phoenix and proposed life-detection payloads from NASA and ESA.
Category:Mars landing sites