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EntityQ763288· pop 43· linked from 276 articles

spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
spacecraft
Image
Apollo 16 LM.jpg
Show 2 more facts
Commons category
Landers (spacecraft)
topic's main category
Category:Landers (spacecraft)
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

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A lander is a spacecraft that descends towards, then comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body other than Earth. In contrast to an impact probe, which makes a hard landing that damages or destroys the probe upon reaching the surface, a lander makes a soft landing after which the probe remains functional.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “lander” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.