Space probe

A space probe is a robotic spacecraft that does not orbit Earth, but instead,
explores further into outer space.[1] A space probe may approach the Moon;
travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land on other planetary
bodies; or enter interstellar space.

The space agencies of the USSR (now Russia and Ukraine), the United States,
the European Union, Japan, China, and India have collectively launched
probes to several planets and moons of the Solar System, as well as to a
number of asteroids and comets. Approximately 15 missions are currently
operational.[2]

Abandoned 1974 probe, Pioneer H, on display in

Contents the National Air and Space Museum

Interplanetary trajectories
Some notable probes
Luna 9
Luna 3
Luna 16
Lunokhod 1
Mariner 10
Venera 4
Venera 7
Mariner 9
Mars 3
Sojourner
Spirit and Opportunity
Halley Armada
ICE
Vega
Sakigake
Suisei
Giotto
Genesis Diagram of extant Solar System missions
Stardust
NEAR Shoemaker
Hayabusa
Rosetta
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 11
Voyager 1
Voyager 2
Cassini–Huygens
New Horizons
Dawn
Juno
Chang'e 2
Beyond the Solar System
Probe imagers
Gallery
See also
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
Interplanetary trajectories
Once a probe has left the vicinity of Earth, its trajectory will likely take it along an orbit around the Sun similar to the Earth's orbit. To
reach another planet, the simplest practical method is a Hohmann transfer orbit. More complex techniques, such as gravitational
slingshots, can be more fuel-efficient, though they may require the probe to spend more time in transit. Some high Delta-V missions
(such as those with high inclination changes) can only be performed, within the limits of modern propulsion, using gravitational
slingshots. A technique using very little propulsion, but requiring a considerable amount of time, is to follow a trajectory on the
Interplanetary Transport Network.[3]

Some notable probes

The Lunokhod 1 unmanned rover on the surface of The Curiosity rover on The Rosetta orbiter and
Moon, displayed in Memorial Museum of the surface of Mars. Philae lander nearing
Cosmonautics. comet 67P.

Voyager 2 in interplanetary space. Artist's concept of Deep Impact prior to its planned
collision with comet Tempel 1.

Luna 9
First man-made object to soft land on the Moon, or any other extra terrestrial surface.[4]

Luna 3
First mission to photograph the far side of the Moon, launched in 1959.

Luna 16
First robotic sample return probe from the Moon.

Lunokhod 1
First rover on Moon. It was sent to the Moon on November 10, 1970.

Mariner 10
First probe to Mercury.

Venera 4
First successful in-place analysis of another planet. It may have also been the first space probe to impact the surface of another planet,
although it is unclear whether it reached Venus' surface.[5]

Venera 7
The Venera 7 probe was the first spacecraft to successfully soft land on another planet (Venus) and to transmit data from there back to
Earth.

Mariner 9
Upon its arrival at Mars on November 13, 1971, Mariner 9 became the first space probe to maintain orbit around another planet.[6]

Mars 3
First soft landing on Mars (December 2, 1971[7]) The lander began transmitting to the Mars
3 orbiter 90 seconds after landing. After 20 seconds, transmission stopped for unknown
reasons.[7]

Sojourner
First successful rover on Mars.[8]

Spirit and Opportunity

The Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars to explore the
Martian surface and geology, and searched for clues to past water activity on Mars. They
were each launched in 2003 and landed in 2004. Communication with Spirit stopped on sol
2210 (March 22, 2010).[9][10] JPL continued to attempt to regain contact until May 24, 2011,
when NASA announced that efforts to communicate with the unresponsive rover had
ended.[11][12][13] Opportunity arrived at Endeavour crater on 9 August 2011, at a landmark
called Spirit Point named after its rover twin, after traversing 13 miles (21 km) from Victoria
crater, over a three-year period.[14] As of January 26, 2016, Opportunity has lasted for more
than twelve years on Mars — although the rovers were intended to last only three months.
The Huygens landing site on Titan

Halley Armada
The first dedicated missions to a comet; in this case, to Halley's Comet during its 1985–86 journey through the inner Solar System. It
was also the first massive international coordination of space probes on an interplanetary mission, with probes specifically launched by
the Soviet (now Russian) Space Agency, European Space Agency, and Japan's ISAS (now integrated with NASDA to JAXA).

ICE
Originally a solar observatory in the International Sun-Earth Explorer series, it was sent into solar orbit to make the first close
observations of a comet, Comet Giacobini–Zinner, in 1985 as a prelude to studies of Halley's Comet.

Vega
Two Russian/French spacecraft. They dropped landers and balloons (first weather balloons deployed on another planet) at Venus
before their rendezvous with Halley's Comet.

Sakigake
This Japanese probe was the first non-US, non-Soviet interplanetary probe.

Suisei
A second Japanese probe, it made ultraviolet wavelength observations of the comet.

Giotto
The first space probe to penetrate a comet's coma and take close-up images of its nucleus.

Genesis
First solar wind sample return probe from sun-earth L1.[15]

Stardust
First sample return probe from a comet tail.

NEAR Shoemaker
First probe to land on an asteroid.

Hayabusa
First sample return probe to launch from an asteroid.

Rosetta
The Rosetta space probe flew by two asteroids and made a rendezvous and orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November
2014.[16]

Pioneer 10
First probe to Jupiter. Radio communications were lost with Pioneer 10 on January 23, 2003, because of the loss of electric power for
its radio transmitter, with the probe at a distance of 12 billion kilometers (80 AU) from Earth.

Pioneer 11
First probe to fly by Saturn. (Communications were later lost due to power constraints and vast distance.)

Voyager 1
Voyager 1 is a 733-kilogram probe launched September 5, 1977. It visited Jupiter and
Saturn and was the first probe to provide detailed images of the moons of these planets.

Voyager 1 is the farthest human-made object from Earth, traveling away from both the
Earth and the Sun at a relatively faster speed than any other probe.[18] As of September 12,
2013, Voyager 1 is about 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) from the Sun.[19]

On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human made object to enter interstellar
space.[20] Voyager 1 has not had a functioning plasma sensor since 1980, but a solar flare in
Voyager 1's view of Solar System
2012 allowed scientists from NASA to measure vibrations of the plasma surrounding the
(artist's impression).[17]
craft. The vibrations allowed scientists to measure the plasma to be much denser than
measurements taken in the far layers of our heliosphere, thus concluding the craft had
broken beyond the heliopause.

Voyager 2
Voyager 2 was launched by NASA on August 20, 1977. The probe's primary mission was to visit the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune,
which it completed on October 2, 1989. It is currently the only probe to have visited the ice giants. It is the fourth of five spacecraft to
have left the solar system. It has been operational for 41 years and 2 months as of October 20, 2018.

Cassini–Huygens
Cassini–Huygens was a 5,712kg (12,593lb) space probe designed to study gas giant Saturn, along with its ringed system and moons.
The NASA probe was launched with ESA lander Huygens on October 1, 1997 from Cape Canaveral. The Cassini probe entered Saturn
orbit on July 1, 2004, and Huygens landed on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, on January 14, 2005.[21] On September 15, 2017, the probe
was de-orbited and burned up in Saturn's atmosphere, after almost 20 years in space.

New Horizons
First probe to be launched to Pluto. Launched on January 19, 2006, it flew by the Pluto–Charon system on July 14, 2015.[22]

Dawn
First spacecraft to visit and orbit a protoplanet (4 Vesta), entering orbit on July 16, 2011.[23][24] Entered orbit around dwarf planet Ceres
in early 2015. Currently orbiting Ceres as of February 2017.

Juno
First probe to Jupiter without atomic batteries,[25] launched August 8, 2011.

Chang'e 2
Chang'e 2 was deployed to orbit the Moon, visit Sun–Earth L2 Lagrangian point, and make a flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis.

Beyond the Solar System

Along with Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and its sister space probe Voyager 2, Voyager 1 is now an interstellar probe. Voyager 1 and 2 have
both achieved solar escape velocity, meaning that their trajectories will not return them to the Solar System.[26][27]

Probe imagers
Examples of space probe imaging telescope/cameras (focused on visible spectrum).

Aperture
Name Type Where When
cm (in.)

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter—HiRISE 50 cm (19.7″) R/C Mars orbit 2005

Mars Global Surveyor—MOC[28] 35 cm (13.8″) R/C Mars orbit 1996–2006

Space (33+ AU from

New Horizons—LORRI 20.8 cm (8.2″) R/C 2006
Earth)

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LROC-

19.5 cm (7.68″) Reflector Lunar orbit 2009
NAC[29]

Cassini—ISS-NAC[30] 19 cm (7.5″) Reflector Saturn orbit 2004–2017

17.65 cm
Galileo – Solid State Imager[31] Reflector Jupiter 1989–2003
(6.95″)

Voyager 1/2, ISS-NAC[32] 17.6 cm (6.92″) Catadioptric Space 1977

Mariner 10 – TV Photo Experiment

15 cm (5.9″) Reflector Space 1973–1975
(x2)[33]

Deep Space 1—MICAS[34] 10 cm ( 3.94″) Reflector Solar orbit 1998–2001

Voyager 1/2, ISS-WAC[32] 6 cm (2.36″) Lens Space 1977

Cassini—ISS-WAC[30] 5.7 cm (2.2″) Lens Saturn orbit 2004–2017

MESSENGER MDIS-WAC[35] 3 cm (1.18″) Lens Mercury orbit 2004–2015

MESSENGER MDIS-NAC[36] 2.5 cm (0.98″) R/C Mercury orbit 2004–2015

Dawn Framing Camera (FC1/FC2)[37] 2 cm (0.8″) Lens Asteroid belt 2007–2018

Image forming systems on space probes typically have a multitude of specifications, but aperture can be useful because it constrains the
best diffraction limit and light gathering area.

Gallery

Photograph of Voyager Artist's concept of Artist's concept of Artist's concept of New

1 / Voyager 2 Pioneer 10 / Pioneer 11 Pioneer 10 near Jupiter Horizons approaching
Pluto.

Artist's concept of New Artist's concept of Artist's concept of Artist depiction of

horizons near Pluto. Cassini in Saturn's Orbit Galileo encounter with Io Stardust during the
'burn-to-depletion' phase

Artist depiction of Mars Titan4b on Launch pad

Global Surveyor

See also
Interplanetary contamination
Interstellar probe
List of Solar System probes
Mariner 10 1973–1975
Orbit
Pioneer 10 1972–2003
Robotic spacecraft
Space capsule
Space exploration
Unmanned spacecraft
U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
Viking program 1975–1982

References
1. "Space Probes" (http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/space-probes/). National Geographic Education.
National Geographic Society.
 2. "Planetary Exploration Timelines: A Look Ahead to 2016" (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/12311322-
planetary-exploration-timelines.html). The Planetary Society.
3. "E&S+" (http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXV4/exit.html). E&S+.
4. "NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details" (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-006A).
5. "NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details" (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1967-058A).
6. http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/past/mariner8-9.html
7. Mars 3 Lander (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1971-049F). NASA Space Science Data Coordination.
NASA
8. Sojourner (rover)
9. September 30 – October 05, 2010 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission
/status_spiritAll.html#sol2397) NASA. 2010-10-05.
10. A.J.S. Rayl Mars Exploration Rovers Update (http://www.planetary.org/news/2010
/1130_Mars_Exploration_Rovers_Update_Mission.html) Planetary Society 30 November 2010
11. Webster, Guy (25 May 2011). "NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars" (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news
/mer20110525.html). NASA. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
12. "NASA Concludes Attempts to Contact Mars Rover Spirit" (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-156&
cid=release_2011-156). NASA. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
13. Chang, Kenneth (May 24, 2011). "NASA to Abandon Mars Spirit Rover" (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/science/space
/25rover.html). New York Times.
14. NASA Mars Rover Arrives at New Site on Martian Surface (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases
/20110810a.html) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 10 August 2011.
15. "Genesis – Search for Origins" (http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
16. " "Where Comets Emit Dust: Scientists Identify the Active Regions on the Surface of Comets" – ScienceDaily (Apr. 29, 2010)"
(https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100426113112.htm). sciencedaily.com.
17. "Voyager 1's view of Solar System (artist's impression)" (https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo1701a/).
www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
18. "NASA Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space" (http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/voyager_1_new_region.html). NASA.
19. JPL.NASA.GOV. "Voyager – The Interstellar Mission" (http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/). nasa.gov.
20. "NASA Spacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey Into Interstellar Space" (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager
/voyager20130912.html#.Ukixi4brzhg). NASA.
21. "Huygens Probe Separation and Coast Phase" (http://sci.esa.int/cassini-huygens/34956-huygens-probe-separation/).
22. Brown, Dwayne; Buckley, Michael; Stothoff, Maria (15 January 2015). "January 15, 2015 Release 15-011 – NASA's New Horizons
Spacecraft Begins First Stages of Pluto Encounter" (http://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/january/nasa-s-new-horizons-spacecraft-
begins-first-stages-of-pluto-encounter). NASA. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
23. "NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Hits Snag on Trip to 2 Asteroids" (http://www.space.com/17119-nasa-dawn-asteroid-spacecraft-
vesta.html). Space.com. August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
24. "Dawn Gets Extra Time to Explore Vesta" (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-107). NASA. April 18, 2012.
Retrieved April 24, 2012.
25. "NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter to Be Farthest Solar-Powered Trip" (http://www.space.com/12541-juno-jupiter-mission-solar-
panels-power.html). Retrieved October 2, 2015.
26. "Voyager-The Interstellar Mission: Fast Facts" (http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/fastfacts.html). Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Retrieved November 2, 2013.
27. "Voyager-The Interstellar Mission" (http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar.html). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved
November 2, 2013.
28. "Mars Global Surveyor" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120219064058/http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/advanced
/20th_far_mgs.html). Archived from the original (http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/advanced/20th_far_mgs.html) on 2012-02-19.
29. "eoportal – LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) – LROC" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120316204928/http:
//events.eoportal.org/presentations/129/13466.html). Archived from the original (http://events.eoportal.org/presentations
/129/13466.html) on 2012-03-16.
30. "Cassini Solstice Mission: ISS" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150114074323/http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft
/cassiniorbiterinstruments/instrumentscassiniiss/). Cassini Solstice Mission. Archived from the original (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
/spacecraft/cassiniorbiterinstruments/instrumentscassiniiss/) on 2015-01-14.
31. "Basics of Space Flight Section II. Space Flight Projects" (http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf12-1.php). nasa.gov.
32. "Voyager" (http://www.astronautix.com/v/voyager.html). astronautix.com.
33. "NASA – NSSDCA – Experiment – Details" (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentDisplay.do?id=1973-085A-01).
34. "Deep Space 1" (http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/). nasa.gov.
35. "NASA – NSSDCA – Experiment – Details" (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentDisplay.do?id=2004-030A-01).
36. "NASA PDS – MDIS" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100602205942/http://starbrite.jpl.nasa.gov
/pds/viewInstrumentProfile.jsp?INSTRUMENT_ID=MDIS-NAC&INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID=MESS). Archived from the original
(http://starbrite.jpl.nasa.gov/pds/viewInstrumentProfile.jsp?INSTRUMENT_ID=MDIS-NAC&INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID=MESS) on
2010-06-02.
37. "Sierks, et al. – The Dawn Framing Camera: A Telescope En Route to the Asteroid Belt – MPS/DLR/IDA" (http://indico.cern.ch
/getFile.py/access?contribId=19&resId=0&materialId=6&confId=43007).

Sources
Deep Space: The NASA Mission Reports. edited by Robert Godwin (2005). ISBN 1-894959-15-9

Further reading
McNutt, et al. – Radioisotope Electric Propulsion (2006) – NASA Glenn Research Center (http://www.lpi.usra.edu
/opag/mcnuttstaif06.pdf) (includes Centaur orbiter mission)
Scott W. Benson – Solar Power for Outer Planets Study (2007) – NASA Glenn Research Center (http://www.lpi.usra.edu
/opag/nov_2007_meeting/presentations/solar_power.pdf)

External links
Media related to Space probes at Wikimedia Commons
JPL – What Is a Space Probe? (2010) (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/education/spaceprobe-20100225.html)

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