First interplanetary spacecraft to land on wheels

NASA's Curiosity rover touched down on Mars on 6 August 2012 at 5:17 UTC. Unlike its predecessors Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity, Curiosity was not protected inside a lander through its touchdown. It was much too large and heavy to fit within any previously used lander hardware. Instead, it landed on its wheels. It entered the Martian atmosphere inside an aeroshell with a heat shield to protect it from the intense heat of its high-speed entry, but once the heat shield had done its work, Curiosity popped out a parachute and dropped the heat shield, exposing its six wheels to the Martian air. Then Curiosity cut itself away from the parachute and fired up a rocket-powered backpack to slow its fall. Curiosity then reeled itself down from the jetpack on cables the final 7.5 meters to the Martian surface, landing on its wheels. NASA's Perseverance rover repeated the feat on 18 Feb 2021. They are still the only two spacecraft ever to have landed off Earth on wheels.