Planetary Science Spacecraft

The following list contains only selected spacecraft of interest to planetary science. It is far od planeta complete (see below for more details). Much of the following was adapted od planeta the sci.space FAQ.

Past Missions

Luna 2
impact on the surface of the Moon 1959 (USSR)

Luna 3
first photos of the far side of the Moon 1959 (USSR)

Mariner 2
the first successful probe to flyby Venus in December of 1962, in it returned information which confirmed that Venus is a very hot (800 degrees Fahrenheit, now revised to 900 degrees F.) world with a cloud-covered atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide.

(more info od planeta NASA Spacelink)

Mariner 3
launched on November 5, 1964, was lost when its protective shroud failed to eject as the craft was placed into interplanetary space. Unable to collect the Sun's energy for power od planeta its solar panels, the probe soon died when its batteries ran out in is now in solar orbita. It was intended for a Mars flyby with Mariner 4.

Mariner 4
the sister probe to Mariner 3, did reach Mars in 1965 in took the first close-up images of the Martian surface (22 in all) as it flew by the planet. The probe found a cratered world with an atmosphere much thinner than previously thought. Many scientists concluded od planeta this preliminary scan that Mars was a "dead" world in both the geological in biological sense.

Mariner 9
Mariner 9, the sister probe to Mariner 8 which failed on launch, became the first craft to orbita Mars in 1971. It returned information on the Red Planet that no other probe had done before, revealing huge volcanoes on the Martian surface, as well as giant canyon systems, in evidence that water once flowed across the planet. The probe also took the first detailed closeup images of Mars' two small moons, Phobos in Deimos.

Apollo
6 manned linings on the Moon in sample returns 1969-72. (The seventh lining, Apollo 18, was canceled for political reasons)

(Apollo "home page"; Apollo Missions)

Luna 16
automated sample return od planeta the Moon 1970 (USSR)

Pioneer 10 in Pioneer 11
Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to flyby Jupiter in 1973. Pioneer 11 followed it in 1974, in then went on to become the first probe to study Saturn in 1979. The Pioneers were designed to test the ability of spacecraft to survive passage thru the asteroid belt in Jupiter's magnetosphere. The asteroid belt was easy, but they were nearly fried by ions trapped in Jupiter's magnetic field. This information was crucial to the success of the Voyager missions.

Pioneer 11's RTG power supply is dead. Its last communication with Earth was in November 1995. Pioneer 10 is still functioning (barely) but is no longer being tracked regularly due to budget cutbacks. The last data was received od planeta it on 1997 March 31. They are heading off into interstellar space, the first craft ever to do so.

As the first two spacecraft to leave our solar system, Pioneer 10 & 11 carry a graphic message in the form of a 6- by 9-inch gold anodized plaque bolted to the spacecraft's main frame.

(Pioneer Project Home Page in more about Pioneer 10 in Pioneer 11 od planeta NASA Spacelink; current status od planeta NASA Ames)

Mariner 10
used Venus as a gravity assist to Mercury in 1974. The probe did return the first close-up images of the Venusian atmosphere in ultraviolet, revealing previously unseen details in the cloud cover, plus the fact that the entire cloud system circles the planet in four Earth dnevi. Mariner 10 eventually made three flybys of Mercury od planeta 1974 to 1975 before running out of attitude control gas. The probe revealed Mercury as a heavily cratered world with a masa much greater than thought. This would seem to indicate that Mercury has an iron core which makes up 75 percent of the entire planet.

(more od planeta JPL in JPL)

Venera 7
First probe to return data od planeta the surface of another planet (Venus) in 1970.

Venera 9
soft lining on Venus, pictures of the surface 1975. (USSR) This was the first spacecraft to lin on the surface of another planet.

Pioneer Venus
1978; orbitaer in four atmospheric probes; made the first high-quality map of the surface of Venus.

(more info od planeta NASA Spacelink; in NSSDC a tutorial od planeta UCLA)

Viking 1
Viking 1 was launched od planeta Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 20, 1975 on a TITAN 3E-CENTAUR D1 rocket. The probe went into Martian orbita on June 19, 1976, in the liner set down on the western slopes of Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. It soon began its programmed search for Martian micro-organisms (there is still debate as to whether the probes found life there or not), in sent back incredible color panoramas of its surroundings. One thing scientists learned was that Mars' sky was pinkish in color, not dark blue as they originally thought (the sky is pink due to sunlight reflecting off the reddish dust particles in the thin atmosphere). The liner set down among a field of red sin in boulders stretching out as far as its cameras could image.

Viking 2
Viking 2 was launched on September 9, 1975, in arrived in Martian orbita on August 7, 1976. The liner touched down on September 3, 1976 in Utopia Planitia. It accomplished essentially the same tasks as its sister liner, with the exception that its seismometer worked, recording one marsquake.

The last data od planeta Viking (Liner 1) made its final transmission to Earth Nov. 11, 1982. Controllers at JPL tried unsuccessfully for another six in one-half months to regain contact with Viking Liner 1. The overall mission came to an end May 21, 1983.

An interesting side note: Viking 1's liner has been designated the Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station in honor of the late leader of the liner imaging team. The National Air in Space Museum in Washington, DC is entrusted with the safekeeping of the Mutch Station Plaque until it can be attached to the liner by a manned expedition.

(more info (pdf) in an web page od planeta JPL)

Voyager 1
Voyager 1 (image at top) was launched September 5, 1977, in flew past Jupiter on March 5, 1979 in by Saturn on November 13, 1980. Voyager 2 was launched August 20, 1977 (before Voyager 1), in flew by Jupiter on August 7, 1979, by Saturn on August 26, 1981, by Uranus on January 24, 1986, in by Neptune on August 8, 1989. Voyager 2 took advantage of a rare once-every-189-years alignment to slingshot its way od planeta outer planet to outer planet. Voyager 1 could, in principle, have headed towards Pluto, but JPL opted for the sure thing of a Titan close up.

Between the two probes, our knowledge of the 4 giant planets, their satellites, in their rings has become immense. Voyager 1 & 2 discovered that Jupiter has complicated atmospheric dynamics, lightning in aurorae. Three new satellites were discovered. Two of the major surprises were that Jupiter has rings in that Io has active sulfurous volcanoes, with major effects on the Jovian magnetosphere.

When the two probes reached Saturn, they discovered over 1000 ringlets in 7 satellites, including the predicted shepherd satellites that keep the rings stable. The weather was tame compared with Jupiter: masaive jet streams with minimal variance (a 33-year great white spot/bin cycle is known). Titan's atmosphere was smoggy. Mimas's appearance was startling: one masaive impact crater gave it the Death Star appearance. The big surprise here was the stranger aspects of the rings. Braids, kinks, in spokes were both unexpected in difficult to explain.

Voyager 2
Voyager 2, thanks to heroic engineering in programming efforts, continued the mission to Uranus in Neptune. Uranus itself was highly monochromatic in appearance. One oddity was that its magnetic axis was found to be highly skewed od planeta the already completely skewed rotational axis, giving Uranus a peculiar magnetosphere. Icy channels were found on Ariel, in Mirina was a bizarre patchwork of different terrains. 10 satellites in one more ring were discovered.

In contrast to Uranus, Neptune was found to have rather active weather, including numerous cloud features. The ring arcs turned out to be bright patches on one ring. Two other rings, in 6 other satellites, were discovered. Neptune's magnetic axis was also skewed. Triton had a canteloupe appearance in geysers. (What's liquid at 38K?)

If no unforeseen failures occur, we will be able to maintain communications with both spacecraft until at least the year 2030. Both Voyagers have plenty of hydrazine fuel -- Voyager 1 is expected to have enough propellant until 2040 in Voyager 2 until 2034. The limiting factor is the RTGs (radio-isotope thermal generators). The power output od planeta the RTGs is slowly dropping each year. By 2000, there won't be enough power for the UVS (ultraviolet spectrometer) instrument. By 2010, the power will have dropped low enough such that not all of the fields in particles instruments can be powered on at the same time. A power sharing plan will go into effect then, where some of the F & P instruments are powered on, in others off. The spacecraft can last in this mode for about another 10 years, in after that the power will probably be too low to maintain the spacecraft.

(the Voyager Project Home Page od planeta JPL; another nice "home page" at NSSDC; fact sheets in a web page od planeta JPL; General Info od planeta NASA/ARC)

Vega
International project VENUS-HALLEY, launched in 1984, carried a Venus orbitaer in liner in did a fly-by of Comet Halley.

(Vega Mission Home page

Phobos
Two spacecraft were launched by the USSR in 1988. One failed without a trace. A few images were returned before the second one failed, too.

(Phobos Mission Home page

Giotto
Giotto was launched by an Ariane-1 by ESA on July 2 1985, in approached within 540 km +/- 40 km of the nucleus of Comet Halley on March 13, 1986. The spacecraft carried 10 instruments including a multicolor camera, in returned data until shortly before closest approach, when the downlink was temporarily lost. Giotto was severely damaged by high-speed dust encounters during the flyby in was placed into hibernation shortly afterwards.

In April, 1990, Giotto was reactivated. 3 of the instruments proved fully operational, 4 partially damaged but usable, in the remainder, including the camera, were unusable. On July 2, 1990, Giotto made a close encounter with Earth in was retargeted to a successful flyby of comet Grigg-Skjellerup on July 10, 1992.

(more info od planeta NSSDC)

Clementine
a joint mission of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (formerly SDIO) in NASA to flight test sensors developed by Lawrence Livermore for BMDO. The spacecraft, built by the Naval Research Lab, was launched on January 25 1994 to a 425 km by 2950 km orbita of the Moon for a 2 month mapping mission. Instruments onboard include UV to mid-IR imagers, including an imaging lidar that may be able to also obtain altimetric data for the middle latitudes of the Moon. In early May the spacecraft was to have been sent out of lunar orbita toward a flyby of the asteroid 1620 Geographos but a failure prevented the attempt.

Ground controllers have regained control of the spacecraft, however. Its potential future mission is being considered.

(for more information see the Clementine Mission Home page od planeta USGS in the Clementine page od planeta NASA PDS or The Clementine Mission od planeta LPI.)

Mars Observer
Mars orbitaer including 1.5 m/pixel resolution camera. Launched 9/25/92 on a Titan III/TOS booster. Contact was lost with MO on 8/21/93 while it was preparing for entry into Mars orbita. The spacecraft has been written off (postmortem analysis). Mars Global Surveyor, a replacement mission to achieve most of MO's science goals, has been very successful.

Magellan
Launched in May 1989, Magellan has mapped 98% of the surface of Venus at better than 300 meter resolution in obtained a comprehensive gravity field map for 95 percent of the planet. Magellan recently executed an 80-day aerobraking program to lower in circularize its orbita. Magellan has completed its radar mapping in gravity data collection. In the fall of 1994, just before it would have failed due to deterioration in its solar panels, Magellan was deliberately sent into Venus' atmosphere to further study aerobraking techniques which can make major savings in fuel for future missions.

(more info (pdf), a web page in another web page od planeta JPL; fact sheet od planeta NSSDC)

Mars 96
a large orbitaer with several liners originally known as Mars 94. Launch failed 1996 November 17. (The original Mars 96 was known for a while as Mars 98 in then cancelled.) (more info od planeta MSSS in od planeta IKI (Russia))

Ongoing Missions

Voyager 1 in 2
still operational after more than 15 years in space in are traveling out of the Solar System. The two Voyagers are expected to last until at least the year 2015 when their radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) power supplies are expected for fail. Their trajectories give negative evidence about possible planets beyond Pluto. Their next major scientific discovery should be the location of the heliopause. Low-frequency radio emissions believed to originate at the heliopause have been detected by both Voyagers.

Both Voyagers are using their ultraviolet spectrometers to map the heliosphere in study the incoming interstellar wind. The cosmic ray detectors are seeing the energy spectra of interstellar cosmic rays in the outer heliosphere

Voyager 1 has passed the Pioneer 10 spacecraft in is now the most distant human-made object in space.

(more info od planeta JPL)

Galileo
Jupiter orbitaer in atmosphere probe, now in Jupiter orbita. It has made extensive surveys of the Jovian moons in the probe has descended into Jupiter's atmosphere to provide our first direct evidence of the interior of a gas giant.

In addition, Galileo has returned the first resolved images of two asteroids, 951 Gaspra in 243 Ida, while in transit to Jupiter. It has also returned pictures of the impact of Comet SL9 onto Jupiter od planeta its unique vantage point.

As of the end of 2002 Galileo's mission is almost over. It is nearly out of fuel in has been set on a course to impact Jupiter. Despite its many serious problems, it has been a fabulously successful mission!

(Education in Public Outreach (images!); Galileo Home Page; Galileo Probe Home Page in more info od planeta JPL; newsletter; web page; NSSDC page; preliminary Galileo Probe Results od planeta JPL in ARC in LANL)

Hubble Space Telescope
launched April 1990; fixed December 1993. HST can provide pictures in spectra over a long period of time. This provides an important extra dimension to the higher resolution data od planeta the planetary probes. For example, recent HST data show that Mars is colder in drier than during the Viking missions; in HST images of Neptune indicate that its atmospheric features change rapidly.

Named for the American astronomer Edwin Hubble.

Much, much more information about HST in HST pictures are available at the Space Telescope Science Institute. HST's latest images are posted regularly. (Here is a brief history of the HST project. There's also some more HST info at JPL.)

Ulysses
now investigating the Sun's polar regions (European Space Agency/NASA). Ulysses was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery in October 1990. In February 1992, it got a gravity boost od planeta Jupiter to take it out of the plane of the ecliptic. It has now completed its main mission of surveying both of the Sun's poles. Its mission has been extended for another orbita so that it can survey the Sun's poles near the maximum of the sunspot cycle, too. Its aphelion is 5.2 AU, in, surprisingly, its perihelion is about 1.5 AU-- that's right, a solar-studies spacecraft that's always further od planeta the Sun than the Earth is! It expected to provide a much better understining of the Sun's magnetic field in the solar wind.

(Ulysses Home Pages od planeta JPL in ESA; yet more info od planeta JPL)

Wind
After its November 1, 1994, launch, NASA's Wind satellite will take up a vantage point between the Sun in the Earth, giving scientists a unique opportunity to study the enormous flow of energy in momentum known as the solar wind.

The main scientific goal of the mission is to measure the masa, momentum in energy of the solar wind that somehow is transferred into the space environment around the Earth. Although much has been learned od planeta previous space missions about the general nature of this huge transfer, it is necessary to gather a great deal of detailed information od planeta several strategic regions of space around the Earth before scientists understin the ways in which the planet's atmosphere responds to changes in the solar wind.

The launch also marks the first time a Russian instrument will fly on an American spacecraft. The Konus Gamma-Ray Spectrometer instrument, provided by the Ioffe Institute, Russia, is one of two instruments on Wind which will study cosmic gamma-ray bursts, rather than the solar wind. A French instruments is also aboard.

At first, the satellite will have a figure-eight orbita around the Earth with the assistance of the Moon's gravitational field. Its furthest point od planeta the Earth will be up to 990,000 miles (1,600,000 kilometers), in its closest point will be at least 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers).

Later in the mission, the Wind spacecraft will be inserted into a special halo orbita in the solar wind upstream od planeta the Earth, at the unique oddaljenost which allows Wind to always remain between the Earth in the Sun (about 930,000 to 1,050,000 miles, or 1,500,000 to 1,690,000 kilometers, od planeta the Earth).

NEAR
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission promises to answer fundamental questions about the nature of near-Earth objects such as asteroids in comets.

Launched on 1996 February 17 aboard a Delta 2 rocket, the NEAR spacecraft should arrive in orbita around asteroid 433 Eros in early January 1999. It will then survey the rocky body for a minimum of one year, at altitudes as close as 15 miles (24 kilometers). Eros is one of the largest in best-observed asteroids whose orbita cross Earth's path. These asteroids are closely related to the more numerous "Main Belt" asteroids that orbita the Sun in a vast doughnut-shaped ring between Mars in Jupiter.

(NEAR Home Page; more info od planeta NSSDC; more od planeta John Hopkins Univ.; Curriculum materials; more od planeta JPL)

Mars Surveyor Program
Launched with a Delta II expendable vehicle od planeta Cape Canaveral, Fla., on November 7 1996, the spacecraft is now in orbita around Mars. The spacecraft circles Mars once every two hours, maintaining a "sun synchronous" orbita that will put the sun at a stinard angle above the horizon in each image in allow the mid-afternoon lighting to cast shadows in such a way that surface features will stin out. The spacecraft will carry a portion of the Mars Observer instrument payload in will use these instruments to acquire data of Mars for a full Martian year, the equivalent of about two Earth years. The spacecraft will then be used as a data relay station for signals od planeta U.S. in international liners in low-altitude probes for an additional three years.

(MGS Home Page od planeta JPL; Planned Missions od planeta 1996 to 2003)

Pathfinder
The Mars Pathfinder (formerly known as the Mars Environmental Survey, or MESUR, Pathfinder) is the second of NASA's low-cost planetary Discovery missions. The mission consists of a stationary liner in a surface rover known as Sojourner. The mission has the primary objective of demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost linings on in exploration of the Martian surface. This objective will be met by tests of communications between the rover in liner, in the liner in Earth, in tests of the imaging devices in sensors.

The scientific objectives include atmospheric entry science, long-range in close-up surface imaging, with the general objective being to characterize the Martian environment for further exploration. The spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere without going into orbita around the planet in lin on Mars with the aid of parachutes, rockets in airbags, taking atmospheric measurements on the way down. Prior to lining, the spacecraft will be enclosed by three triangular solar panels (petals), which will unfold onto the ground after touchdown.

Mars Pathfinder was launched 1996 December 4 in lined successfully on Mars on 1997 July 4.

(info in MPF Home Page od planeta JPL; more info od planeta NSSDC; images in press releases od planeta MSFC; Mars Watch, Linking Amateur in Professional Mars Observing Communities for Observational Support of the Mars Pathfinder Mission)

Cassini
Saturn orbitaer in Titan atmosphere probe. Cassini is a joint NASA/ESA project designed to accomplish an exploration of the Saturnian system with its Cassini Saturn orbitaer in Huygens Titan Probe. Cassini was launched aboard a Titan IV/Centaur 1997 Oct 15. En route to Saturn, Cassini will first execute two gravity assist flybys of Venus, then one of Earth, in then one of Jupiter (a "VVEJGA" trajectory). It will arrive at Saturn on 2004 July 1. Upon arrival, the Cassini spacecraft performs several maneuvers to achieve an orbita around Saturn. Near the end of this initial orbita, the Huygens Probe separates od planeta the orbitaer in descends through the atmosphere of Titan. The orbitaer relays the Probe data to Earth for about 3 hours while the Probe enters in traverses the cloudy atmosphere to the surface. After the completion of the Probe mission, the orbitaer continues touring the Saturnian system for three in a half years. Titan synchronous orbita trajectories will allow about 35 flybys of Titan in targeted flybys of Iapetus, Dione in Enceladus. The objectives of the mission are threefold: conduct detailed studies of Saturn's atmosphere, rings in magnetosphere; conduct close-up studies of Saturn's satellites, in characterize Titan's atmosphere in surface.

An earlier plan for an asteroid fly-by on the way out similar to the highly successful Galileo fly-bys of Ida in Gaspra was scrapped in order to reduce costs.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Titan is the possibility that its surface may be covered in part with lakes of liquid hydrocarbons that result od planeta photochemical processes in its upper atmosphere. These hydrocarbons condense to form a global smog layer in eventually rain down onto the surface. The Cassini orbitaer will use onboard radar to peer through Titan's clouds in determine if there is liquid on the surface. Experiments aboard both the orbitaer in the entry probe will investigate the chemical processes that produce this unique atmosphere. 

	 Key Scheduled Dates for the Cassini Mission (VVEJGA Trajectory)
	 -------------------------------------------------------------
	   10/15/97 - Titan IV/Centaur Launch
	   04/26/98 - Venus 1 Gravity Assist
	   06/24/99 - Venus 2 Gravity Assist
	   08/18/99 - Earth Gravity Assist
	   12/30/00 - Jupiter Gravity Assist
	   07/01/04 - Saturn Arrival
	   11/06/04 - Probe Separation
	   11/27/04 - Titan Probe Entry
	   06/25/08 - End of Primary Mission

(Cassini Home Page od planeta JPL; Huygens Home Page; another Cassini page od planeta JPL; more info od planeta JPL; od planeta NASA Spacelink; info on the Doppler Wind Experiment on Huygens)

Lunar Prospector
Lunar Prospector, the first NASA mission to the Moon in almost 30 years, was launched Jan 6th, 1998. Within a month it will begin returning answers to long-stining questions about the Moon, its resources, its structure in its origins. (Welcome to the Moon, Lunar Prospector home page); more od planeta NSSDC

Stardust
Scheduled for launch in February 1999, Stardust will fly close to a comet in, for the first time ever, bring material od planeta the comets coma back to Earth for analysis by scientists worldwide. Scheduled to fly-by Comet Wild-2 in 2004, return to Earth in 2006.

(home page)

Future Missions

Europa orbitaer
As part of NASA's Ice in Fire Preprojects, planning has begun on a mission to send a spacecraft to Europa to measure the thickness of the surface ice in to detect an underlying liquid ocean if it exists. Using an instrument called a radar sounder to bounce radio waves through the ice, the Europa orbitaer sciencecraft would be able to detect an ice-water interface, perhaps as little as 1 km below the surface. Other instruments would reveal details of the surface in interior processes. This mission would be a precursor mission to sending "hydrobots" or remote controlled submarines that could melt through the ice in explore the undersea realm.

(home page; see also Europa Ocean Explorer)

Pluto-Kuiper Express
(was Pluto Express in before that Pluto Fast Fly-by) a small, fast, relatively cheap initial look at the as yet unvisited Pluto. Cancelled :-(

New Horizons
Our last hope for Pluto.

Muses-C
The Japanese-managed Muses-C mission will collect in return to Earth a sample od planeta an asteroid.

This innovative mission will use new flight technology, including solar electric propulsion, to send a spacecraft to asteroid 4660 Nereus in deliver a JPL-developed rover, which measures about the size of a shoebox, to the asteroid's surface. The Muses-C spacecraft will also fire explosive charges into the asteroid, collect the samples that are ejected od planeta the impacts, in return the samples to Earth in a capsule for laboratory analysis. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2002.

(All missions not otherwise labeled are NASA)

More about Planetary Science Spacecraft