Mars rover Mars rover A Mars rover is a motor vehicle that propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars upon arrival. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, and they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months, and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control. There have been four successful robotically operated Mars rovers. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the "Sojourner" rover, the "Opportunity" rover, "Spirit" rover, and, now the "Curiosity" rover. On January 24, 2016 NASA reported that
Mars landing heat flow from the deep interior of Mars, was launched on May 5, 2018. It landed successfully in Mars's Elysium Planitia on November 26, 2018. Additional future missions are the Mars 2020 rover, the Chinese Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover, and the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission 2 orbiter. The ESA ExoMars rover, also planned for launch in 2020, should obtain soil samples from up to 2 meters depth and make an extensive search for biosignatures and biomolecules. There is a proposal for a Mars Sample Return Mission by ESA and NASA, but this has been delayed until