Q: What is Challenger Memorial Station?

A: Challenger Memorial Station is the landing platform for the Opportunity rover on Mars, named after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It successfully delivered the Opportunity rover to Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004.

Q: Why was Challenger Memorial Station named as such?

A: The station was named after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster to commemorate the seven astronauts who lost their lives in the 1986 tragedy. This naming honors their memory while recognizing the station's connection to space exploration.

Q: When and where was the Opportunity rover launched and landed?

A: The Opportunity rover was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17B on July 8, 2003, at 03:18:15. It landed on Mars on January 25, 2004, at 04:55 in a location called Eagle at Meridiani Planum.

Q: What technical specifications does Challenger Memorial Station have?

A: The lander has a mass of 348 kilograms and was part of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. It delivered the Opportunity rover to the Martian surface and was designed to support rover operations and communications.

Challenger Memorial Station

lander for the Opportunity rover, located at Meridiani Planum

Vehicle lander Q112668988

Facts

20 properties

Instance of: lander, memorial^[2]
Launch date: 2003-07-08
Coordinate location: lat: -1.9461944444444446, lon: 354.4733888888889^[11]
Commemorates: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster^[8]
Contains: Opportunity (2003–2004)
Coordinates: lat: -1.9461944444444446, lon: 354.4733888888889
Country of origin: United States^[7]
Landing date: 2004-01-25
Launch vehicle: Delta II
Located on astronomical body: Mars^[6]
Location of landing: Eagle^[15]
Mass: 348 kg^[18]
Named after: Challenger^[4]
Official name: Challenger Memorial Station^[17]
Operator: Jet Propulsion Laboratory^[3]
Significant event: rocket launch, atmospheric entry, landing^[12]^[13]^[14]
Space launch vehicle: Delta II^[5]
Start point: Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17B^[16]
UTC date of spacecraft landing: January 25, 2004^[10]
UTC date of spacecraft launch: July 8, 2003^[9]

🏷️ Also known as

en Challenger Memorial Station en lander for the Opportunity rover en MER-1 lander

🔖 Identifiers · 1

Image (Wikimedia Commons): Challenger Memorial Station At Meridiani Planum.jpg ↗

🔗 Connections

Significant event 3

landing, atmospheric entry, rocket launch

Instance of 2

lander, memorial

Commemorates 1

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

Contains 1

Opportunity

Country of origin 1

United States

Located on astronomical body 1

Mars

Location of landing 1

Eagle

Named after 1

Challenger

Operator 1

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Space launch vehicle 1

Delta II

Start point 1

Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17B

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Summary

Challenger Memorial Station is a lander^[1].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — instance of (P31): memorial. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — operator (P137): Jet Propulsion Laboratory. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — named after (P138): Challenger. mars.nasa.gov. mars.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — space launch vehicle (P375): Delta II. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — located on astronomical body (P376): Mars. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — country of origin (P495): United States. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — commemorates (P547): Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. mars.nasa.gov. mars.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — UTC date of spacecraft launch (P619): July 8, 2003. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — UTC date of spacecraft landing (P620): January 25, 2004. pds.nasa.gov. pds.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — coordinate location (P625): {'lat': -1.9461944444444446, 'lon': 354.4733888888889}. esri.com. esri.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — significant event (P793): rocket launch. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — significant event (P793): atmospheric entry. pds.nasa.gov. pds.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — significant event (P793): landing. d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net. d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — location of landing (P1158): Eagle. d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net. d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — start point (P1427): Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17B. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — official name (P1448): {'lang': 'en', 'text': 'Challenger Memorial Station'}. mars.nasa.gov. mars.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station — mass (P2067): 348 kg. mars.nasa.gov. mars.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

[1] ↑ Challenger Memorial Station is an instance of lander (Q763288) [P31, primary]. Wikidata. wikidata.org.

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@misc{4ortxyz_challenger-memorial-station_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Challenger Memorial Station}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/challenger-memorial-station}, note = {Accessed: 2026-05-03}}

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