Lunokhod 1

The first successful robotic rover to operate on another world. Landed on the Moon by Luna 17, Lunokhod 1 traveled over 10 kilometers across the lunar surface over 11 months, far exceeding its designed 90-day lifespan. It was teleoperated by a five-person crew on Earth and carried cameras, an X-ray spectrometer, and a cosmic ray detector. Lunokhod proved that wheeled robots could traverse extraterrestrial terrain — a concept that directly led to every Mars rover that followed. It used a tub-shaped body with a convex lid that served as a solar panel.