List of landing ellipses on extraterrestrial bodies

This is a list of the projected landing zones on extraterrestrial bodies. The size of the ellipse or oval graphically represents statistical degrees of uncertainty, i.e. the confidence level of the landing point, with the center of the ellipse being calculated as the most likely given the plethora of variables.[3] Their accuracy has improved from the early attempts in the 1960s; active research continues in the 21st century.[4][5][6][7]

Comparison of landing ellipses of NASA Mars landers in 1997, 2008, 2012, and 2021, respectively.
Shaded ellipses of Skylab's reentry on 1979-07-11. Included for purposes of comparison.
Deorbit of Mir, 23 March 2001. The debris field (in red) is ±1,500 x ±100 km, smaller than predicted due atmospheric reentry being slightly steeper than anticipated
The 150 x 20 km[1] landing footprint of Opportunity rover on Meridiani Planum, Mars in 2004
Suggested landing ellipses for Luna-25. Primary ellipses are 1, 4, 6 and secondary ellipses are 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and B1, B2.[2]

Ellipse table

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Mission Country/Agency Destination Date of Impact/Landing Axes Notes
Surveyor 1   NASA Moon 1966 50 km[8] Landing error ~18.96 km[9]
Surveyor 3   NASA Moon 1967 15.1 x 10.6 km[8] Initial landing ellipse was 30 km, was corrected in-flight after midcourse correction.[8] Landing error ~2.76 km[9]
Apollo 11   NASA Moon 1969 18.5 x 4.8 km[10][11] First crewed landing. Landing error ~6.6 km[9]
Apollo 12   NASA Moon 1969 ~1 km,[12] or 13.3 x 4.8 km[a][13] Second crewed landing. Landing error ~160 m[9] Landed in ~200 m from Surveyor 3, its target. Landing was very precise and not intended to be closer.[12]
Apollo 14   NASA Moon 1971 ~1 km[12]
Apollo 15   NASA Moon 1971 ~1 km[12]
Apollo 16   NASA Moon 1972 ~1 km[12]
Apollo 17   NASA Moon 1972 ~1 km,[12] or 15 x 5 km[14] Last crewed landing. Landing error ~400 m[9]
Viking   NASA Mars 1976 280 x 100 km[15] Retrorocket
n/a Shoemaker-Levy 9 (comet) Jupiter 1994-07-16 n/a As per IAUC in 1993 May 22; 0.0003 AU (45,000 km) from the center of Jupiter, i.e. within the planet's radius of 0.0005 AU (69,911 km) on 1994 July 25.4. (sic)[16] Actual train of impacts as finally projected occurred beyond Jupiter's limb.[17] Included for purposes of comparison.
Mars Pathfinder   NASA Mars 1997 200 x 70 km[18] or 200 x 100 km[19][20] Airbags
Mars Polar Lander   NASA Mars 1999 200 x 20 km[21] Communications failed before landing attempt.
Mars Exploration Rovers   NASA Mars 2003 150 x 20 km[22] Airbags
Beagle 2   ESA Mars 2003 174 x 106 km[23] Successful landing, communications failure.
Huygens   ESA Titan 2005 1200 x 200 km[24][25]
Phoenix   NASA Mars 2008 100 x 19 km[3] or "70 km long"[26]
Mars Science Laboratory   NASA Mars 2012 25 x 20 km[18] Sky crane
Chang'e 3   CNSA Moon 2013 6 x 6 km[9] Landed with a landing error of ~89 m,[9] 2 m targeting precision[12]
Philae   ESA 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko 2014 0.5 km[27]
Falcon 9 first-stage booster   SpaceX Earth 2015 ~20 m[28][29] First reusable rocket, and the most precise landing system to date. Included for comparison.
Schiaparelli EDM   ESA Mars 2016 100 x 15 km[30][31] Crash landing.
Cassini   NASA Saturn 2017-09-17 TBD Rotation brought entry area into view.
InSight   NASA Mars 2018 130 x 27 km[18]
Hayabusa2   JAXA 162173 Ryugu 2018 2 or 3 m[12] Sampling occurred in ~1 m from a target.[12]
OSIRIS-REx   NASA 101955 Bennu 2020 6.5 m[12] Sampling occurred in ~1 m from a target.[12]
Mars 2020   NASA Mars 2021 7.7 x 6.6 km[32] Sky crane. Landed 1.7 km from center of ellipse.[33]
Tianwen-1   CNSA Mars 2021 56 x 22 km[12][34]
ExoMars 2020    ESA/Roscosmos Mars 2023 104 x 19 km[35][36][37] or 120 x 19 km[38] Mission postponed until 2028.
Luna 25   Roscosmos Moon 2023-08-19 30 x 15 km[2][39][40] Mission failed before landing attempt.
Chandrayaan-3   ISRO Moon 2023-08-23 4.5 x 2.5 km[41] or 4 x 2.4 km[42]
OSIRIS-REx return capsule   NASA Earth 2023-09-24 30 x 80 km,[43] 14 x 58 km,[44] or 12 x 30 km[45] Sample return from an asteroid. Capsule landed ~ 8 km from the center.[45]
Peregrine Mission One   Astrobotic, Inc. Moon 2024-01-18 24 x 6 km[42][46] First U.S. lunar lander built since Apollo Program (1972). Aborted to Point Nemo.
SLIM   JAXA Moon 2024-01-19 100 m[47][42] Dubbed "Moon Sniper" for its accuracy (despite having landed upside-down).[48] Landed ~55 m from target point.[49]
IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus   NASA Moon 2024-02-22 Landed ~1.5 km from the target.[50]
 
Cassini retirement, Saturn, 9.4°N 15 W, 15 September 2017, at the southern edge of the North Equatorial Belt (itself approximately 15,000 km wide); the blander Equatorial Zone is immediately below.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 7.2 nautical miles (13.3 km) x 2.6 nautical miles (4.8 km) per source

References

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