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This is a list of space probes that have left Earth orbit (or were launched with that intention but failed), organized by their planned destination. It includes planetary probes, solar probes, and probes to asteroids and comets, but excludes lunar missions, which are listed separately at List of lunar probes and List of Apollo missions.
Solar System space probes operational as of November 2024. This is a list of active space probes which have escaped Earth orbit. It includes lunar space probes, but does not include space probes orbiting at the Sun–Earth Lagrangian points (for these, see List of objects at Lagrangian points). A craft is deemed "active" if it is still able to ...
First polar orbit around the Sun. First mission to survey the space environment above and below the poles of the Sun. USA (NASA) ESA Ulysses [43] 13 September 1992: First spacecraft to map Venus in its entirety. USA (NASA) Magellan [44] 22 March 1995: Record longest duration spaceflight to date (437.7 day by Valeri Polyakov). Russia Mir: July 1995
All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration (or were launched with that intention but failed), including lunar probes. A small number of pioneering or notable Earth-orbiting craft. [vague] It does not include: Centuries of terrestrial telescopic observation. The great majority of Earth-orbiting satellites.
Lunar lander. First spacecraft to do a soil analysis of any world. Returned more than 20,000 photos. [15] November 7 US: Surveyor 6: Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D Moon Success Lunar lander. First spacecraft to be launched from the surface of the Moon. It lifted itself to a height of about 3 meters. [16] November 29 Australia: WRESAT: Sparta: Earth: Success
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
The Cosmic Background Explorer satellite produces a detailed map of the background radiation remaining from the Big Bang. The map shows "ripples", caused by slight variations in the density of the early universe – the seeds of galaxies and galaxy clusters. The 10-meter Keck telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, is completed. The first revolutionary ...
Even spacecraft directly orbiting the Sun do so in planes close to the ecliptic because a direct launch into a high-inclination solar orbit would require a prohibitively large launch vehicle. Several spacecraft (Mariner 10, Pioneer 11, and Voyagers 1 and 2) had performed gravity assist maneuvers in the 1970s. Those maneuvers were to reach other ...