lander

noun land·er \ ˈlan-dər \

Updated on: 26 Apr 2018

Definition of lander

: one that lands; especially : a space vehicle that is designed to land on a celestial body (such as the moon or a planet)

Recent Examples of lander from the Web

His supporters argue the new administrator still has a chance to shape NASA’s emerging focus on using commercial spacecraft, habitats and landers to reach the Moon.

— andy pasztor, WSJ, "Senate Confirms James Bridenstine to Lead NASA," 19 Apr. 2018
The two Viking landers on Mars both carried seismometers, though one failed and the other sent no reliable signals.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "By listening for quakes on Mars, NASA lander will probe Red Planet’s interior," 18 Apr. 2018
After arrival, the three-legged lander will unfurl its solar arrays to power up.

— kurtis alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, "California launch: NASA to send spacecraft to study ‘marsquakes’," 18 Apr. 2018
If, for some reason, SpaceX doesn’t launch by the 26th, the mission will have to stand down while NASA shifts its focus to launching another big spacecraft, the InSight Mars lander, which is taking off from California.

— loren grush, The Verge, "Watch SpaceX launch NASA’s new exoplanet-hunting satellite this afternoon," 16 Apr. 2018
The astronauts were forced to retreat to the cramped lunar lander attached to their command module capsule to preserve enough electrical power for the trip back to Earth.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Apollo 13's harrowing week in space began 48 years ago," 12 Apr. 2018
The spending plan would direct NASA to launch the orbiter by 2022 and the lander by 2024.

— lauren morello, Scientific American, "U.S. Science Agencies Set to Win Big in Budget Deal," 22 Mar. 2018
The lander will use its instruments to observe the frequency and magnitude of marsquakes and measure how heat moves deep within the planet and to the surface.

— denise chow /, NBC News, "NASA's InSight mission will give Mars a long-overdue 'health checkup'," 9 Mar. 2018
Testing of mid-to-large commercial landers, starting with 500 kg to 1,000 kg.

— richard tribou, OrlandoSentinel.com, "NASA has a lot on its moon plate for the next 12 years," 13 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lander.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of lander

1859

in the meaning defined above

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