Curiosity, Perseverance, Spirit, Opportunity, and Red Planet exploration.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
For what purpose did Mars rover Curiosity accidentally discover pure sulfur rocks?
Sulfur on Mars usually forms near ancient hot springs, and Curiosity found it in a channel that once held flowing water.
Which NASA rover got stuck in soft Martian sand and ended its drive at a site called Troy?
Spirit's wheels sank into the soil at Troy in 2009, and NASA ended the mission in 2011 after it fell silent.
Which Mars rover carried Ingenuity, the first helicopter to fly on another planet?
Ingenuity flew 72 times before NASA retired it in 2024 after damage to its rotor blades.
Which Mars rover carried a tiny helicopter named Ingenuity to the red planet?
Perseverance carried Ingenuity to Mars, and the small helicopter made its first powered flight there in April 2021.
The Mars rover Opportunity outlived its planned 90-day mission by how long?
Opportunity kept rolling for 14 years, covering a marathon distance of about 28 miles, until a massive dust storm blocked its solar power in 2018.
Which rover, active from 2004 to 2018, holds the record for farthest distance driven on Mars?
Opportunity covered roughly 28 miles and explored for nearly 15 years instead of its planned 90 days.
What power source keeps NASA's Curiosity rover running on Mars?
A radioisotope generator converts heat from plutonium-238's decay into electricity, so Curiosity keeps working through dust storms and Martian nights.
Which Mars rover generates power from plutonium decay rather than sunlight?
Curiosity converts heat from plutonium decay into electricity, unlike earlier solar-powered Mars rovers.