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A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft
Spacecraft

A spacecraft is a Craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters outer space then returns to the Earth....
 with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe
Space probe

A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe....
. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed
Human spaceflight

A human spaceflight is a spaceflight with a Astronaut, and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike Robotic spacecraft space probes or remotely-controlled satellites....
 operation, due to lower cost and lower risk factors.






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Messenger
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft
Spacecraft

A spacecraft is a Craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters outer space then returns to the Earth....
 with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe
Space probe

A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe....
. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed
Human spaceflight

A human spaceflight is a spaceflight with a Astronaut, and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike Robotic spacecraft space probes or remotely-controlled satellites....
 operation, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus
Venus

Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus , the Roman mythology goddess of love....
 or the vicinity of Jupiter
Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
 are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn
Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant....
, Uranus
Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third-largest and fourth most massive planet in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus the father of Kronos and grandfather of Zeus ....
, and Neptune
NEPTUNE

=Overview=The project, along with sister project, VENUS, offers a unique approach to ocean science. Traditionally, ocean scientists have relied on infrequent ship cruises or space-based satellites to carry out their research....
 are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, so telerobotic probes are the only way to explore them.

Many artificial satellite
Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an Physical body which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s are robotic spacecraft, as are many lander
Lander (spacecraft)

A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. For bodies with Celestial body atmosphere, the landing is called re-entry and the lander descends as a re-entry vehicle....
s and rover
Rover (space exploration)

A rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other astronomical body. Some rovers have been designed to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots....
s.

History

The first space mission, Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program....
, was an artificial satellite put into Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. On 3 November 1957, the Soviets orbited Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2

Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. It was a 4 meters high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters ....
, the first to carry a living animal into space – a dog
Laika

Laika was a Soviet space dogs who became the first living mammal to orbit the Earth and the first orbital casualty. Little was known about the impact of space flight on living things at the time Laika's mission was launched....
.

The United States achieved its first successful space probe launch with the orbit of Explorer 1 on 31 January 1958. Explorer 1 weighed less than 14 kilograms compared to 83.6 kg and 508.3 kg for Sputniks 1 and 2 respectively. Nonetheless, Explorer 1 detected a narrow band of radiation surrounding the Earth, named the Van Allen belts
Van Allen radiation belt

The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energy charged particles around Earth, held in place by Earth's magnetic field. Earth's geomagnetic field is not uniformly distributed around its surface....
 after the scientist whose equipment detected it.

Only six other countries have successfully launched missions using their own vehicles: France (1965), Japan (1970), China (1970), the United Kingdom (1971), India (1981) and Israel (1988).

Most American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 space probe missions have been coordinated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a List of federally funded research and development centers and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, California, United States....
, and European missions by the European Space Operations Centre
European Space Operations Centre

The European Space Operations Centre is responsible for controlling European Space Agency satellites and space probes. The centre is located in Darmstadt, Germany....
, part of the European Space Agency
European Space Agency

The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmentalism organisation dedicated to the Space exploration, currently with 18 member states....
 (ESA). ESA has conducted relatively fewer space exploration
Space exploration

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
 missions in the past (one example is the Giotto mission
Giotto mission

Giotto was a European robotic spacecraft mission from the European Space Agency, intended to fly by and study Comet Halley. On 13 March 1986, the mission succeeded in approaching Halley's nucleus at a distance of 596 kilometers....
, which encountered comet
Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
 Halley
Comet Halley

Halley's Comet or Comet Halley is the most famous of the periodic comets and can currently be seen every 75?76 years. Many comets with long orbital periods may appear brighter and more spectacular, but Halley is the only short-period comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye, and thus, the only naked-eye comet certain to return wi...
), but have launched several interplanetary spacecraft in recent years (e.g. Rosetta space probe, Mars Express
Mars Express

Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars , and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency....
, Venus Express
Venus Express

Venus Express is the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency. It is currently in orbit around Venus and collecting scientific data....
). ESA has, however, launched many spacecraft to carry out astronomy
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
, and is a collaborator with NASA
NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
 on the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope is a Space observatory that was carried into Low Earth orbit STS-31 in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble....
. There have been many successful Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n space missions. There have also been a few Japanese, Chinese and Indian
Indian Space Research Organisation

The Indian Space Research Organisation is the primary body for space research under the control of the government of India. It was established in its modern form in 1969 as a result of coordinated efforts initiated earlier....
 missions.

Design

In spacecraft design, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Military of the United States and one of the uniformed services of the United States....
 considers a vehicle to consist of the mission payload and the bus (or platform). The bus provides physical structure, thermal control, electrical power, attitude control and telemetry, tracking and commanding.

JPL divides the "flight system" of a spacecraft into subsystems. These include:

Structure

This is the physical backbone structure. It:
  • provides overall mechanical integrity
  • ensures spacecraft components are supported and can withstand launch loads

Data handling

This is sometimes referred to as the command and data subsystem. It is often responsible for:
  • command sequence storage
  • maintaining the spacecraft clock
  • collecting and reporting spacecraft telemetry data (e.g. spacecraft health)
  • collecting and reporting mission data (e.g. photographic images)


Attitude and articulation control

This system is responsible for the spacecraft's orientation in space (attitude) and the positioning of movable parts. Attitude is controlled in order to:
  • point an antenna at Earth for communications
  • point onboard instruments for collection of data
  • adjust heating effects of sunlight
  • for guidance during propulsive maneuvers


Telecommunications

Components in the telecommunications subsystem include radio antennas, transmitters and receivers. These may be used to communicate with ground stations on Earth, or with other spacecraft.

Electrical power

The supply of electric power on spacecraft come from photovoltaic (solar) cells or from a radioisotope thermoelectric generator
Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

A radioisotope thermoelectric generator is an electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. In such a device, the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactivity material is converted into electricity by the Seebeck effect using an array of thermocouples....
. Other components of the subsystem include batteries for storing power and distribution circuitry that connects components to the power sources.

Temperature control and protection from the environment

Spacecraft are often protected from temperature fluctuations with insulation. Some spacecraft use mirrors and sunshades for additional protection from solar heating. They also often need shielding from micrometeoroid
Micrometeoroid

A micrometeoroid is a tiny meteoroid; a small particle of rock in space, usually weighing less than a gram. A micrometeor or micrometeorite is such a particle that enters the Earth's atmosphere or falls to Earth....
s and orbital debris.

Propulsion


Mechanical devices

Mechanical components often need to be moved for deployment after launch or prior to landing. In addition to the use of motors, many one-time movements are controlled by pyrotechnic devices.

Control

Robotic spacecraft use telemetry
Telemetry

Telemetry is a technology that allows the remote measurement and reporting of information of interest to the system designer or operator. The word is derived from Greek language roots tele = remote, and metron = measure....
 to radio back to Earth acquired data and vehicle status information. Although generally referred to as "remotely-controlled" or "telerobotic", the earliest orbital spacecraft -- such as Sputnik 1 and Explorer 1 -- did not receive control signals from Earth. Soon after these first spacecraft, command systems were developed to allow remote control from the ground. Increased autonomy
Autonomous robot

Autonomous robots are robots which can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of robots have some degree of autonomy....
 is important for distant probes where the light travel time prevents rapid decision and control from Earth. Newer probes such as Cassini-Huygens
Cassini-Huygens

Cassini?Huygens is a joint NASA/European Space Agency robotic spacecraft mission currently studying the planet Saturn and Saturn's natural satellites....
 and the Mars Exploration Rovers are highly autonomous and use on-board computers to operate independently for extended periods of time.

List of space probes

This is a condensed version of the more detailed List of Solar System probes.


Lunar probes

  • Luna program — Soviet Lunar exploration (1959–1976).
  • Ranger program
    Ranger program

    The Ranger program was a series of unmanned space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon....
     — US Lunar hard-landing probes (1961–1965).
  • Zond program
    Zond program

    Zond was the name given to two series of Soviet Union unmanned space missions undertaken from 1964 to 1970 to gather information about nearby planets and to test spacecraft....
     — Soviet Lunar exploration (1964–1970).
  • Surveyor program
    Surveyor program

    The Surveyor Program was a NASA program that, from 1966 through 1968, sent seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Its primary goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the Moon....
     — US Lunar soft-landing probe (1966–1968).
  • Lunar Orbiter program
    Lunar Orbiter program

    The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five unmanned space mission Moon orbiter missions launched by the United States in 1966 through 1967 with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface before the Apollo program landings....
     — US Lunar orbital (1966–1967).
  • Lunokhod program — Soviet Lunar Rover
    Lunar rover

    File:Apollo15LunarRover.jpgThe Lunar Roving Vehicle or lunar rover was a type of surface exploration rover used on the Moon during the Apollo program....
     probes (1970–1973).
  • Muses-A mission (Hiten
    Hiten

    The Hiten spacecraft , built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan, was launched on January 24, 1990. It was Japan's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States....
     and Hagoromo
    Hagoromo

    Hagoromo may refer to:* Hagoromo, a small space orbiter released by the Japanese spacecraft Hiten* Hagoromo , a Japanese Noh play* hagoromo, heavenly kimono of tennin, tennyo, tenshi...
    ) — Japanese Lunar orbital and hard-landing probes (1990–1993).
  • Clementine
    Clementine mission

    Clementine was a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA. The objective of the mission was to test sensors and spacecraft components under extended exposure to the space environment and to make scientific observations of the Moon and the near-Earth asteroid 1620 Geographos....
     — US Lunar orbital (1998).
  • Lunar Prospector
    Lunar Prospector

    The Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition and possible polar ice deposits, measurements of magnetic...
     — US Lunar orbital (1998–1999).
  • Smart 1 — European Lunar orbital (2003).
  • SELENE
    Selene

    Selene is the Titan goddess of the moon.In Greek mythology, Selene was an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titan Hyperion and Theia....
     — Japanese lunar orbiter (2007).
  • Chang'e 1 — Chinese lunar orbiter (2007).
  • Chandrayaan 1 — Indian lunar orbiter (2008).


Mars probes

  • Zond program
    Zond program

    Zond was the name given to two series of Soviet Union unmanned space missions undertaken from 1964 to 1970 to gather information about nearby planets and to test spacecraft....
     — failed Soviet flyby probe
  • Mars probe program
    Mars probe program

    The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched or attempted to launch by the Soviet Union in the 1960s-1970s....
     — Soviet orbiters and landers
  • Viking program
    Viking program

    NASA's Viking program consisted of a pair of space probes sent to Mars , Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each vehicle was composed of two main parts, an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander designed to study the planet from the surface....
     — Two NASA
    NASA

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
     orbiters and landers (1974)
  • Phobos program
    Phobos program

    The Phobos program was an unmanned space mission consisting of two spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union to study Mars and its natural satellite Phobos and Deimos ....
     — Failed Soviet orbiters and Phobos
    Phobos (moon)

    'Phobos' is the larger and closer of Mars ' two small natural satellites, the other being Deimos . It is named after the Greek mythology Phobos , a son of Ares ....
     landers
  • Mars Pathfinder
    Mars Pathfinder

    The Mars Pathfinder was launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II just a month after the Mars Global Surveyor was launched. After a 7-month voyage it landed on Ares Vallis, in a region called Chryse Planitia on Mars, on 4 July 1997....
     — NASA lander and rover (1997)
  • Mars Surveyor '98 program
    Mars Surveyor '98 program

    The Mars Surveyor '98 program comprised two spacecraft launched separately, the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander ; on board the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft were two surface-penetrator probes ....
     (Mars Climate Orbiter
    Mars Climate Orbiter

    The Mars Climate Orbiter was one of two spacecraft in the Mars Surveyor '98 program, the other being the Mars Polar Lander . The two missions were to study the Mars weather, climate, and water and carbon dioxide budget, in order to understand the reservoirs, behavior, and atmospheric role of volatiles and to search for evidence of long-te...
     and Mars Polar Lander
    Mars Polar Lander

    The Mars Polar Lander was a failed exploration vehicle, and part of the NASA Mars Surveyor '98 program, which consisted of two spacecraft launched separately, the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander ....
    ) — Failed NASA probes
  • Mars Global Surveyor
    Mars Global Surveyor

    The Mars Global Surveyor was a US spacecraft developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. It began the United States's return to Mars after a 20-year absence....
     - NASA orbiter
  • Mars Odyssey — NASA orbiter, reached Mars on October 24, 2001
  • Mars Observer
    Mars Observer

    Mars Observer was an unmanned spacecraft designed to study the geoscience and climate of Mars . The first of the Planetary Observer program of planetary missions, it was launched by NASA on September 25, 1992....
     — failed NASA Mars orbiter
  • Mars Express
    Mars Express

    Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars , and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency....
     (Mars Express Orbiter and Beagle 2
    Beagle 2

    Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful United Kingdom landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission....
    ) — European orbiter and failed lander 2003
  • Mars Exploration Rover
    Mars Exploration Rover

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission mission of exploring Mars , that began in 2003 with the sending of two rover s ? Spirit rover and Opportunity rover ? to explore the Martian surface and geology....
    s — NASA rovers (2004)
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit.When MRO entered orbit there were five other spacecraft in orbit of or on Mars: Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Express Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, and two Mars Exploration Rovers; a then record for mo...
     — NASA orbiter, entered Martian orbit March 10, 2006
  • Phoenix
    Phoenix (spacecraft)

    Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008....
     — NASA lander, landed May 25, 2008
  • Mars Science Laboratory
    Mars Science Laboratory

    The Mars Science Laboratory is a NASA rover scheduled to be launched between October and December 2011 and perform the first-ever precision landing on Mars....
     — NASA rover, to be launched 2011


Venus probes

  • Venera program — Soviet Venus
    Venus

    Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus , the Roman mythology goddess of love....
     orbiter and lander
  • Vega program
    Vega program

    The Vega program were a series of Venus missions which also took advantage of the appearance of Comet Halley in 1986. Vega 1 and Vega 2 were unmanned spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet Union and Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, and the Federal Republic of Ge...
     — Soviet mission to Venus
    Venus

    Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus , the Roman mythology goddess of love....
     and Comet Halley
    Comet Halley

    Halley's Comet or Comet Halley is the most famous of the periodic comets and can currently be seen every 75?76 years. Many comets with long orbital periods may appear brighter and more spectacular, but Halley is the only short-period comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye, and thus, the only naked-eye comet certain to return wi...
  • Pioneer Venus project
    Pioneer Venus project

    The Pioneer mission to Venus consisted of two components, launched separately. Pioneer Venus 1 or Pioneer Venus Orbiter was launched in 1978 and studied the planet for more than a decade after orbital insertion in 1978....
     — US Venus
    Venus

    Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus , the Roman mythology goddess of love....
     orbiter
  • Magellan probe
    Magellan probe

    The Magellan spacecraft was a space probe sent to the planet Venus, the first unmanned spacecraft to be launched by NASA since its successful Voyager 1 spacecraft to Jupiter and Saturn in 1977....
     — US Venus orbiter
  • Venus Express
    Venus Express

    Venus Express is the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency. It is currently in orbit around Venus and collecting scientific data....
     — ESA probe sent for the observation of the Venus's weather in 2005.

Gas giant probes

  • Pioneer program
    Pioneer program

    The Pioneer program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that was designed for planetary exploration. There were a number of such missions in the program, but the most notable were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, which explored the outer planets and left the solar system....
     — US Jupiter
    Jupiter

    Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
     and Saturn
    Saturn

    Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant....
     flybys
  • Voyager program
    Voyager program

    The Voyager program is a series of U.S. unmanned space missions that consists of a pair of unmanned scientific Space probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2....
     — US Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
    Uranus

    Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third-largest and fourth most massive planet in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus the father of Kronos and grandfather of Zeus ....
     and Neptune
    NEPTUNE

    =Overview=The project, along with sister project, VENUS, offers a unique approach to ocean science. Traditionally, ocean scientists have relied on infrequent ship cruises or space-based satellites to carry out their research....
     flyby and study of interstellar space
    Interstellar space

    Interstellar space may mean:* In astronomy: all the space within a galaxy not occupied by star or their planetary systems. The interstellar medium resides ? by definition ? in interstellar space....
  • Galileo probe — US Jupiter orbiter and atmosphere probe
  • Cassini-Huygens
    Cassini-Huygens

    Cassini?Huygens is a joint NASA/European Space Agency robotic spacecraft mission currently studying the planet Saturn and Saturn's natural satellites....
     — US-European Saturn orbiter and Titan
    Titan (moon)

    Titan or Saturn VI is the largest natural satellite of Saturn, the only moon known to have a dense celestial body atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
     lander Huygens (1997–present)

Comet and asteroid probes

  • International Cometary Explorer
    International Cometary Explorer

    The International Cometary Explorer spacecraft was originally known as International Sun/Earth Explorer 3 satellite, launched August 12, 1978....
     — pass through gas tail of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
    21P/Giacobini-Zinner

    Comet Giacobini-Zinner is a periodic comet in our solar system.It was discovered by Michel Giacobini from , who observed the comet in the constellation of Aquarius on December 20, 1900....
     (1985)
  • Giotto mission
    Giotto mission

    Giotto was a European robotic spacecraft mission from the European Space Agency, intended to fly by and study Comet Halley. On 13 March 1986, the mission succeeded in approaching Halley's nucleus at a distance of 596 kilometers....
     — European — flyby of comet 1P/Halley (1986)
  • Vega 1 & 2
    Vega program

    The Vega program were a series of Venus missions which also took advantage of the appearance of Comet Halley in 1986. Vega 1 and Vega 2 were unmanned spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet Union and Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, and the Federal Republic of Ge...
     — Soviet — flyby of comet 1P/Halley (1986)
  • Sakigake probe
    Sakigake

    Sakigake , pre-launch codename MS-T5, was Japan first Unmanned space mission, and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the USA or the Soviet Union....
     — Japanese — flyby of comet 1P/Halley (1986)
  • Suisei probe
    Suisei probe

    Suisei , originally known as Planet-A, was an unmanned space probe developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science . It constituted a part of the Halley Armada together with Sakigake, the Soviet Union/France Vega program probes, the European Space Agency Giotto mission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration...
     — Japanese — flyby of comet 1P/Halley (1986)
  • NEAR Shoemaker
    NEAR Shoemaker

    The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker , renamed after its launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene M. Shoemaker, is a Robotic spacecraft space probe designed to study the near-Earth asteroid asteroid 433 Eros from close orbit over a period of a year....
     — US — asteroid lander, launched 1996
  • Deep Space 1
    Deep Space 1

    Deep Space 1 is a spacecraft launched on 24 October 1998 as part of NASA's New Millennium program. Its primary goal was the testing of technologies to lower the cost and risk of future missions....
     — US — comet 19P/Borrelly
    19P/Borrelly

    Comet Borrelly or Borrelly's Comet is a periodic comet, which was visited by the spacecraft Deep Space 1 in 2001....
     and asteroid flyby, 1998–2000
  • Stardust probe — US — comet 81P/Wild
    81P/Wild

    Comet 81P/Wild, also known as Wild 2, is a comet named after Switzerland astronomer Paul Wild , who discovered it in 1978.It is believed that for most of its 4.5 billion-year lifetime, Wild 2 had a more distant and circular orbit....
     flyby and sample return, launched 1999, flied-by 2004, returned January 15, 2006
  • CONTOUR
    CONTOUR

    The COmet Nucleus TOUR was a NASA Discovery Program space probe that failed shortly after launch. It had as its primary objective close flybys of two comet nuclei with the possibility of a flyby of a third known comet or an as-yet-undiscovered comet....
     — US — comet flyby mission (comets 2P, 73P
    73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann

    73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, also known as Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, is a periodic comet in our solar system which is in the process of disintegrating....
     and 6P
    6P/d'Arrest

    6P/d'Arrest is a periodic comet in our Solar System, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. It passes 53 Gm from the Earth, about a third of the Earth-Sun distance, on August 9, 2008....
    ); launch failure in 2003
  • Hayabusa
    Hayabusa

    is an unmanned space mission led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to Sample return mission from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....
     — Japanese — asteroid orbiter, lander and sample return, launched 2003
  • Rosetta — European — comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
    67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

    67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is the designation of a comet with a current orbital period of 6.6 years. It is the destination of the European Space Agency Rosetta probe spacecraft mission, launched on March 2, 2004....
     orbiter and lander (Philae
    Philae lander

    Philae is the name of the Lander that accompanies the Rosetta probe spacecraft. It is designed to land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shortly after arrival....
    ); launched 2004
  • Deep Impact
    Deep Impact (space mission)

    Deep Impact is an ongoing NASA space probe launched on 12 January 2005 that was designed to study the composition of the interior of the comet 9P/Tempel by colliding a section of the spacecraft into the comet....
     — successful US comet 9P/Tempel
    9P/Tempel

    Tempel 1 , is a periodic comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It currently completes an orbit of the sun every 6.5 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed the deliberate high speed impact upon the comet....
     impactor, launched 2005
  • Deep Impact/EPOXI
    EPOXI

    NASA's EPOXI is a University of Maryland, College Park-led unmanned space mission that uses the existing Deep Impact vehicle to begin a new series of observations....
     — US — comet 103P/Hartley
    103P/Hartley

    Comet Hartley 2, officially designated 103P/Hartley is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.41 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit in Siding Spring, Australia....
     flyby (extended Deep Impact mission) — 2010
  • Stardust/NExT
    Stardust (spacecraft)

    Stardust is an United States interplanetary mission of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, whose primary purpose was to investigate the makeup of the comet Comet Wild 2 and its coma ....
     — US — comet 9P/Tempel
    9P/Tempel

    Tempel 1 , is a periodic comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It currently completes an orbit of the sun every 6.5 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed the deliberate high speed impact upon the comet....
     flyby (extended Stardust mission) — 2011


Solar observation probes

  • Ulysses — Solar particles and fields
  • Genesis
    Genesis (spacecraft)

    The Genesis spacecraft was the first ever attempt to collect a sample of solar wind, and the first "sample return mission" to return from beyond the orbit of the Moon....
     — First solar wind sample return mission, 2001–2004 (crash)
  • Interstellar Boundary Explorer
    Interstellar Boundary Explorer

    The Interstellar Boundary Explorer is a NASA satellite that will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space....
     (IBEX) — scheduled to launch in the summer of 2008.
  • Advanced Composition Explorer
    Advanced Composition Explorer

    Advanced Composition Explorer is a space exploration mission being conducted as part of the Explorer program to study matter in situ, comprising energetic particles from the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and other sources....
     — Solar particles and fields observation at Earth-Sun L1 point
  • STEREO
    STEREO

    STEREO is a Sun observation mission which was launched on 26 October 2006 at 00:52 GMT. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to pull respectively further ahead of and fall gradually behind the earth....
     — Pair of probes in solar orbits providing 3D observations of sun


Other solar system probes

  • Zond program
    Zond program

    Zond was the name given to two series of Soviet Union unmanned space missions undertaken from 1964 to 1970 to gather information about nearby planets and to test spacecraft....
     — Soviet flyby missions to the Moon
    Moon

    The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
    , Venus
    Venus

    Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus , the Roman mythology goddess of love....
    , and Mars
    MARS

    In cryptography, MARS is a block cipher that was IBM's submission to the Advanced Encryption Standard process. MARS was selected as an AES finalist in August 1999, after the AES2 conference in March 1999, where it was voted as the fifth and last finalist algorithm....
  • Mariner program
    Mariner program

    The Mariner program was a program conducted by the United States space agency NASA that launched a series of Robotic spacecraft Space probe designed to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury ....
     — US Mercury
    Mercury (planet)

    Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 88 days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest Orbital eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt....
    , Venus and Mars
    MARS

    In cryptography, MARS is a block cipher that was IBM's submission to the Advanced Encryption Standard process. MARS was selected as an AES finalist in August 1999, after the AES2 conference in March 1999, where it was voted as the fifth and last finalist algorithm....
     flybys
  • MESSENGER
    Messenger

    A messenger is a person employed in business to convey messages, official dispatches, telegrams, letters, or parcels, and go on special errands as part of their duties....
     — US Mercury orbiter, launched 2004
  • New Horizons
    New Horizons

    New Horizons is a NASA robotic spacecraft mission currently en route to the dwarf planet Pluto. It is expected to be the first spacecraft to fly by and study Pluto and its moons, Charon , Nix , and Hydra ....
     — US launched on January 19, 2006 — First probe to visit Pluto (in July 2015)
  • Dawn — US launched on September 27, 2007 — First probe to visit Ceres and Vesta (in 2011 and 2015 respectively)


See also

  • Unmanned resupply spacecraft
    Unmanned resupply spacecraft

    Unmanned resupply spacecraft are a special kind of robotic spacecraft that operate autonomously without a human crew, designed to support space station operation....
  • Geosynchronous satellite
    Geosynchronous satellite

    A geosynchronous satellite is a satellite whose orbital track on the Earth repeats regularly over points on the Earth over time. If such a satellite's orbit lies over the equator and the orbit is circular, it is called a geostationary satellite....
  • Human versus robotic spaceflight
    Human versus robotic spaceflight

    The human versus robotic spaceflight debate refers to disagreements over the status of human spaceflight and robotic spacecraft . The debate is a recurring topic in news and opinion journalism, especially after noteworthy space events....
  • Manned space mission
  • Satellite
    Satellite

    In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an Physical body which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
  • Space exploration
    Space exploration

    Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
  • Space observatory
    Space observatory

    A space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects....


External links