What rolled off the descent stage is not what hit the atmosphere. NASA states the Curiosity rover at 899 kg and the Perseverance rover at 1,025 kg. [1]

Smaller rovers flew before them. This sheet does not store their masses, because the published figures for the rover and the lander deck do not always name the same object. A blank is better than a mixed number. There is no trajectory integrator here. Elevation still changes the air the lander meets. That screen is Pressure and the areoid.

The two stored rovers

Both figures are the vehicles that drive, in Earth weight converted by NASA. They are not the heat shield, the parachute, or the sky crane. A crewed lander is a different machine. This table does not scale one into the other.

Class B, two rovers

Screening sheet. Not for flight, medicine, or operations. These are the vehicles that drive. They are not entry mass.

Curiosity and Perseverance, as stated by NASA. Viking, Phoenix, InSight, Spirit, Opportunity, Sojourner, and Zhurong are not in this table.
Rover Mass What the number is
Curiosity899 kgRolled rover, not the entry craft
Perseverance1,025 kgRolled rover, not the entry craft

There is no trajectory integrator. Elevation still changes the air a lander meets. That screen is the pressure page.

See also

References

  1. NASA Perseverance, 4 June 2025. Curiosity 1,982 lb (899 kg). Perseverance 2,260 lb (1,025 kg). https://x.com/NASAPersevere/status/1930350692579061940

Categories

EngineeringExploration