All 5 NASA Mars Rovers · Side by Side
| Rover | Landing | Site | Mass | Power | Cameras | Distance | Sols | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perseverance | Feb 2021 | Jezero Crater | 1,025 kg | MMRTG (nuclear) | 23 | — | — | $2.7B | ● Active |
| Curiosity | Aug 2012 | Gale Crater | 899 kg | MMRTG (nuclear) | 17 | — | — | $2.5B | ● Active |
| Opportunity | Jan 2004 | Meridiani Planum | 185 kg | Solar panels | 9 | 45.16 km | 5,352 | $400M* | Completed 2019 |
| Spirit | Jan 2004 | Gusev Crater | 185 kg | Solar panels | 9 | 7.73 km | 2,208 | $400M* | Completed 2010 |
| Sojourner | Jul 1997 | Ares Vallis | 10.6 kg | Solar + battery | 3 | ~0.1 km | 83 | $265M† | Completed 1997 |
* Combined MER programme cost (Spirit + Opportunity). † Total Pathfinder mission cost.
In 29 years, NASA's Mars rovers grew from Sojourner's 10.6 kg — small enough to fit on a desk — to Perseverance's 1,025 kg, roughly the size of a small car. Each generation brought exponential leaps in capability: from Sojourner's single APXS instrument to Perseverance's seven science instruments, 23 cameras, a coring drill, a sample caching system and an oxygen-production experiment.
Spirit and Opportunity were solar-powered, making them vulnerable to dust storms and Martian winters. Opportunity ultimately died when a global dust storm blocked all sunlight. Curiosity and Perseverance carry nuclear batteries (MMRTGs) that generate power from plutonium-238 decay, enabling year-round operations regardless of weather or season.
Sojourner and the MER twins used airbag landings — bouncing to the surface inside cocoons of inflated bags. Curiosity was too heavy for airbags, so engineers invented the sky crane: a rocket-powered descent stage that lowered the rover on cables for a wheels-down landing. Perseverance reused this system and added terrain-relative navigation, autonomously diverting to avoid hazards during descent.