Lander
A lander is a spacecraft designed to touch down on the surface of a planet, moon, asteroid or comet.
A lander is a spacecraft built to come down gently on a surface and work there. On large bodies with atmospheres it may use heat shields, parachutes and rockets; on small asteroids and comets, where gravity is extremely weak, the challenge is to avoid bouncing off.
This was dramatically shown in November 2014, when the Philae lander from the Rosetta mission touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Its harpoons failed to fire, and it bounced twice before settling in a shaded spot where its solar panels received little light. It still sent back data for about 60 hours.
The Hayabusa2 mission carried small hopping rovers called MINERVA-II and the German-French MASCOT lander, which explored the surface of Ryugu in 2018. Landers measure surface temperature, texture and composition directly, giving ground truth for what orbiters see from above.
Related terms
Level: Explorer Ages 10 and up