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Cassini-Huygens to Saturn
Launch: October 15, 1997
A joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency,
Cassini is sending a sophisticated robotic spacecraft
to orbit the ringed planet and study the Saturnian system in detail over a
four-year period. Onboard Cassini is a scientific probe called Huygens that will be released
from the main spacecraft to parachute through the atmosphere to the
surface of Saturn's largest and most interesting moon, Titan, which is
shrouded by an opaque atmosphere.
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Dawn
Launch: September 27, 2007
Dawn, the first spacecraft ever planned to orbit two different bodies after leaving Earth, will orbit Vesta and Ceres, two of the largest asteroids in the solar system.
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Deep Impact
Launch: January 5, 2005
Deep Impact traveled to comet Tempel 1 and deployed an impactor that was essentially "run over" by the nucleus of Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005.
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Deep Space 1
Launch: October 24, 1998
Unlike missions focused on science investigations, Deep Space 1 was a spacecraft designed to flight-test new technologies -- including an ion engine that could power solar system explorers of the future. On an extended mission, it flew past comet Borrelly in September 2001, taking the best ever images of a comet's nucleus.
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Epoxi
Launch:
Jan. 12, 2005
The
EPOXI mission recycles the already "in flight" Deep
Impact spacecraft to investigate two distinct celestial targets
of opportunity. In 2008, EPOXI will observe five nearby stars
with "transiting extrasolar planets," and later, on
Oct. 11, 2010, the spacecraft will flyby and investigate comet
Hartley. |
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Explorer 1-5
Launches: January-August, 1958
Explorer 1 became the first satellite launched by the United States on January 31, 1958. Its main payload was a cosmic ray detector which discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belts. It was followed by four similar satellites, two of which were successful
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Galileo to Jupiter
Launch: October 18, 1989
Upon arrival at Jupiter in December 1995, the Galileo spacecraft delivered a probe that descended into the giant planet's atmosphere. Since then the orbiter has completed many flybys of Jupiter's major moons, reaping a variety of science discoveries. On Sept. 21, 2003, the mission ended when the spacecraft plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere.
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Genesis
Launch: August 8, 2001
Genesis collected samples of charged particles in the solar wind and returned them to Earth in September 2004. Although the capsule's parachutes did not deploy, scientists expect to be able to achieve most of their science objectives with samples recovered from the capsule.
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Juno
Proposed Launch: 2011
This mission will conduct an in-depth study of the giant gas planet Jupiter. A spacecraft will enter polar orbit around the planet to investigate the existence of an ice-rock core; determine the amount of global water and ammonia present in the atmosphere; study convection and deep wind profiles in the atmosphere; investigate the origin of the jovian magnetic field; and explore the polar magnetosphere.
+ Related news release
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Magellan to Venus
Launch: May 4, 1989
This orbiter used imaging radar to map 99 percent of the surface of Venus over four years.
After concluding its radar mapping, Magellan made global maps of
Venus's gravity field. Flight controllers also tested a new maneuvering
technique called aerobraking, which uses a planet's atmosphere to slow
or steer a spacecraft.
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Mariner 1-2 to Venus
Launches: July 22 and August 27, 1962
Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to fly by another planet, studying Venus' atmosphere and surface. During its journey to Earth's neighbor, the craft made the first-ever measurements of the solar wind.
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Mariner 3-4 to Mars
Launches: November 5 and 28, 1964
Mariner 4 collected the first close-up photos of another planet when it flew by Mars.
As it passed the planet it revealed lunar-type impact craters, some
of them touched with frost in the chill Martian evening.
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Mariner 5 to Venus
Launch: June 4, 1967
Originally a backup Mars craft, Mariner 5 was redirected to Venus, flying within 4,000 kilometers (approximately 2,500 miles) of that planet.
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Mariner 6-7 to Mars
Launches: February 24 and March 27, 1969
Mariner 6 and 7 completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying past the equator and south polar regions and analyzing the Martian atmosphere and surface with remote sensors.
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Mariner 8-9 to Mars
Launches: May 8 and 30, 1971
Mariner 9 was the first artificial satellite of Mars, orbiting the planet for nearly a year.
It revealed a very different planet than expected -- one that boasted gigantic volcanoes and
an immense canyon stretching 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) across its surface.
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Mariner 10 to Venus and Mercury
Launch: November 3, 1973
With the scorched inner planet of Mercury as its ultimate target, the Mariner 10 spacecraft pioneered the use of a "gravity assist" swing by Venus to bend its flight path.
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Mars 2005 and beyond
In 2005 and beyond, missions proposed under the Mars Exploration Program include a powerful scientific orbiter and a "smart" lander to test new landing technologies. A robotic mission to return Martian samples to Earth is envisioned later.
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Mars Climate Orbiter
Launch: December 11, 1998
Mars Climate Orbiter, designed to function as an interplanetary weather satellite, was lost on arrival at the planet.
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Mars Exploration Rovers
The first rover launched on June 10, 2003. The second rover launched on July 7, 2003.
Two mobile robotic geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring Mars since January 2004. Clues found in some rocks indicate liquid water once covered the ground.
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Mars Global Surveyor
Launch: November 7, 1996
Mars Global Surveyor operated longer at Mars than any other spacecraft in history, and for more than four times as long as the prime mission originally planned. The spacecraft returned detailed information that has overhauled understanding about Mars.
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Mars Observer
Launch: September 25, 1992
This Mars orbiter was lost shortly before arrival at the red planet.
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2001 Mars Odyssey
Launch: April 7, 2001
Mars Odyssey is an orbiting spacecraft designed to determine the composition of the Martian surface, to detect water and shallow buried ice, and to study the radiation environment.
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Mars Pathfinder
Launch: December 4, 1996
Mars Pathfinder, consisting of a lander and the Sojourner rover, returned an unprecedented amount of data as they explored an ancient flood plain in Mars’ northern hemisphere known as Ares Vallis.
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Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2
Launch: January 3, 1999
This ambitious mission to set a spacecraft down on the frigid terrain near the edge of Mars' south polar cap was lost during descent and landing.
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Launch: Aug. 12, 2005
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has the most powerful telescopic camera ever to another planet, plus five other scientific instruments.
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Mars Science Laboratory
Planned Launch: no earlier than 2009
NASA proposes to develop and to launch a roving long-range, long-duration science laboratory that will be a major leap in surface measurements and pave the way for a future sample return mission.
Mission description
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Microwave Instrument on the Rosetta Orbiter
Launch: Mar. 2, 2004
This JPL instrument will study gases given off by comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft orbits the comet during its swing through the inner solar system. Rosetta is scheduled to rendezvous with the comet in 2014.
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Moon Mineralogy Mapper
Planned Launch: Summer 2008
The JPL-managed Moon Mineralogy Mapper is one of two instruments that NASA is contributing to India's first mission to the Moon, scheduled to launch in 2007. The instrument is a state-of-the-art high spectral resolution imaging spectrometer that will characterize and map the mineral composition of the Moon. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper will be flown on Chandrayaan-1.
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Phoenix
Launch: August 4, 2007
In the continuing pursuit of water on Mars, the poles are a good place to probe, as water ice is found there. This mission is flying a high-latitude lander to Mars. It will dig with a robotic arm to a layer containing water ice, and analyze samples of soil and ice.
JPL Phoenix site
Univeristy of Arizona Phoenix site |
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Pioneer 3-4
Launches: December 6, 1958; March 3, 1959
Pioneer 3 and 4 were early satellites designed to be lofted toward the Moon. Pioneer 4 successfully passed within 60,000 kilometers (37,300 miles) of the Moon and is now orbiting the Sun, the first U.S. spacecraft placed in solar orbit.
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Rangers to the Moon
Launches: 1961-65
The Ranger project of the 1960s was the first U.S. effort to launch probes directly toward the Moon. The craft were designed to relay pictures and other data as they approached the Moon and finally crash-landed into its surface. Although the first attempts failed, the later Rangers were a complete success.
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Stardust
Launch: February 7, 1999
The Stardust spacecraft flew through the cloud of dust that surrounds the nucleus of comet Wild-2 and, for the first time ever, brought cometary material back to Earth. The Stardust return capsule landed in January 2006 carrying the collected particles.
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Stardust-NExT
Launch:
February 7, 1999
The Stardust-NExT mission recycles the already
"in flight" Stardust spacecraft to flyby and investigate
comet Tempel 1 in Feb. 2011. The Stardust spacecraft successfully
flew through the cloud of dust that surrounds the nucleus of
comet Wild-2 and gathered a sample of cometary material. The
Stardust return capsule landed in January 2006 carrying the
collected particles.
Stardust-NExT
home page
Mission description
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Surveyors to the Moon
Launches: 1966-68
The Surveyor missions were the first U.S. efforts to make soft landings on the Moon. Most were successful and the Surveyor series acquired almost 90,000 images from five lunar sites.
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Ulysses solar polar mission
Launch: October 6, 1990
A joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, Ulysses was carried into Earth orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery and propelled toward Jupiter, where the giant planet's gravity helped direct the craft's flight path into an unusual orbit around the Sun. It has since made several orbital passes of the Sun's north and south poles.
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Viking to Mars
Launches: August 20 and September 9, 1975
The Viking project was the first mission to land a spacecraft safely on the surface of Mars. Two identical craft each had an orbiter and a lander; both orbiter-lander pairs successfully studied Mars.
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Voyager to the outer planets
Launches: August 20 and September 5, 1977
The twin spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 flew by and observed Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune. Both craft are now heading out of the solar system. In 1998, Voyager 1 became the most distant human-made object in space.
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