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
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
]
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.
