Venera 13 - USSR Venus Flyby/Lander - 5,000 kg - (October 30, 1981)

Venera 13 landed on Venus on March 1, 1982. It returned black and white, and the first colour panoramic views of the Venusian surface. It also conducted soil analysis using an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The sample was determined to be leucite basalt, a rare rock type on the Earth.

Venera 14 - USSR Venus Flyby/Lander - 5,000 kg - (November 4, 1981)

Venera 14 landed on Venus on March 5, 1982. It returned black and white, and colour panoramic views of the Venusian surface. It also conducted soil analysis using an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The sample was determined to be tholeiitic basalt similar to that found at mid-ocean ridges on the Earth.

Venera 15 - USSR Venus Orbiter - 5,000 kg - (June 2, 1983)

Venera 15 arrived at Venus on October 10, 1983. Its high-resolution imaging system produced images at 1-2 kilometres in resolution. Venera 15 and 16 produced a map of the northern hemisphere from the pole to 30°N. They found several hot spots, possibly caused from volcanic activity.

Venera 16 - USSR Venus Orbiter - 5,000 kg - (June 7, 1983)

Venera 16 arrived at Venus on October 14, 1983. Its high-resolution imaging system produced images at 1-2 kilometres in resolution. Venera 15 and 16 produced a map of the northern hemisphere from the pole to 30°N. They found several hot spots, possibly caused from volcanic activity.

Vega 1 - USSR Venus/Comet Halley Flyby - 4,000 kg - (December 15, 1984)

Vega 1 flew past Venus on June 11, 1985 on its way for a flyby with comet Halley. It dropped off a Venera style lander and a balloon to investigate the Venusian middle cloud layer. The lander's soil experiment failed. The balloon floated in the atmosphere for about 48 hours at an altitude of 54 kilometres. Between Vega 1 and 2, downward gusts of 1 meter/second were encountered and wind velocities of up to 240 kilometres/hour. The Comet Halley flyby took place on March 6, 1986. The Vega 1 probe is now in a solar orbit.

Vega 2 - USSR Venus/Comet Halley Probe - 4,000 kg - (December 21, 1984)

Vega 2 flew past Venus on June 15, 1985 on its way for a flyby with comet Halley. It dropped off a Venera style lander and a balloon to investigate the Venusian middle cloud layer. The lander's soil experiment sampled anorthosite-troctolite which is found in the lunar highlands but is rare on Earth. The balloon floated in the atmosphere for about 48 hours at an altitude of 54 kilometers. Between Vega 1 and 2, downward gusts of 1 meter/second were encountered and wind velocities of up to 240 kilometres/hour. The Comet Halley flyby took place on March 9, 1986. The Vega 2 probe is now in a solar orbit.

Sakigake - Japan Comet Flyby - 141 kg - (January 7, 1985)

Comet Halley flyby took place on March 1, 1986.

Giotto - Europe Comet Flyby - 512 kg - (July 2, 1985)

Comet Halley flyby took place on March 13, 1986. After the Halley fly-by, Giotto was put into hibernation, and re-awoken in 1990. Using a close Earth flyby, its trajectory was changed to allow a close encounter with the Comet Grigg-Skjellerup on July 10th, 1992. The flyby distance was actually less than that at Halley (around 200 kilometres from the nucleus).

Suisei - Japan Comet Flyby - 141 kg - (August 18, 1985 - February 1991)

Comet Halley flyby took place on March 8, 1986.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phobos 1 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander - 5,000 kg - (July 7, 1988)

Phobos 1 was sent to investigate the Martian moon Phobos. It was lost en route to Mars through a command error on September 2, 1988.

Phobos 2 - USSR Phobos Flyby/Lander - 5,000 kg - (July 12, 1988)

Phobos 2 arrived at Mars and was inserted into orbit on January 30, 1989. The orbiter moved within 800 kilometres of Phobos and then failed. The lander never made it to Phobos.

Magellan - USA Venus Orbiter - 3,545 kg - (May 4, 1989 - 1994)

Magellan was released into Earth's orbit from a space shuttle and then injected into a transer orbit to Venus by an upper stage. Its primary mission was to map Venus using synthetic aperture radar. The surface of Venus is obscured by thick clouds of carbon dioxide that makes the surface invisible to optical instruments. It arrived at Venus on August 10, 1990. Its radar imaging system was able to produce images at 300 meters/pixel resolution.

Galileo - USA & Europe Jupiter Orbiter/Atmospheric Probe - 2,222 kg - (October 18, 1989)

Galileo was designed to study Jupiter's atmosphere, satellites and surrounding magnetosphere for 2 years. In order to get there, it used gravity assist techniques to pick up speed by flying past Venus on February 10, 1990. It then flew past the Earth & Moon on December 8, 1990 and then again on December 8, 1992. It has made encounters with asteroid 951 Gaspra on October 29, 1991, and asteroid 243 Ida on August 28, 1993.

Muses-A - Japan Lunar Orbiters - (January 24, 1990)

This consisted of two small orbiters but failed to send back data from their orbit around the Moon. This was the first non USA or USSR probe to reach Moon.

Hubble Space Telescope - USA & Europe Telescope - (April 25, 1990)

The Hubble Space Telescope has returned high-resolution images of Mars and the other outer planets of the Solar System. In July 1994, it photographed the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter.

Ulysses - USA & Europe Solar Flyby - 370 kg - (October 6, 1990)

The Ulysses spacecraft is an international project to study the poles of the Sun and interstellar space above and below the poles. It used Jupiter for a gravity assist to swing out of the ecliptic plane and onward to the poles of the Sun. The Jupiter flyby was on February 8, 1992. The first solar polar passage was in June 1994. The spacecraft passed the solar equator in February 1995 and passed over the north pole in June 1995.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yohkoh - Japan/USA/England Solar Probe - (August 31, 1991)

This spacecraft studied high-energy radiation from solar flares.

Mars Observer - USA Mars Orbiter - (September 25, 1992)

Communication was lost with Mars Observer on August 21, 1993, just before it was to be inserted into orbit.

Clementine - USA Lunar Orbiter - (January 25, 1994)

The official name for Clementine is "Deep Space Probe Science Experiment" (DSPSE). It was a Department of Defence program used to test new space technology. Clementine was a new design using lightweight structure and propellant systems. It spent 70 days (between February 6 and May 5, 1994) in lunar orbit. Its four cameras mapped the surface of the Moon at 125-250 meters/pixel resolution. Clementine also used a laser to gather altimeter data which will make it possible to generate the first lunar topographic map.

SOHO - Europe/USA Solar Probe - (December 12, 1995)

The main scientific purpose of SOHO (Solar and Helispheric Observatory) is to study the Sun's internal structure, by observing velocity oscillations and radiance variations, and to look at the physical processes that form and heat the Sun's corona and that give rise to the solar wind, using imaging and spectroscopic diagnosis of the plasma in the Sun's outer regions coupled with in-situ measurements of the solar wind. SOHO will be put into a "halo orbit" around the L1 Lagrange point -- the point 1.5 million kilometres (932,000 miles) away from us at which the gravitational pull of the Earth balances that of the Sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEAR - USA Asteroid Orbiter - 805 Kg - (February 17, 1996)

The main scientific purpose of NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) is to orbit near Earth asteroid 433 Eros. The spacecraft is scheduled to study the asteroid for one year after entering orbit in February 1999. NEAR imaged Comet Hyakutake in March 1996 and will fly within 1,200 kilometres of asteroid 253 Mathilde on June 27, 1997. This is the first of NASA's Discovery missions.

Mars Global Surveyor - USA Mars Orbiter - (November 7, 1996)

The Mars Global Surveyor is scheduled for launch in the late fall of 1996. It was initiated due to the loss of the Mars Observer. The basic spacecraft design is after the Mars Observer.

Mars 96 - Russia Orbiter & Lander - (November 16, 1996)

Mars '96 consisted of an orbiter, two landers, and two soil penetrators that were to reach the planet in September 1997. The rocket carring Mars 96 lifted off successfully, but as it entered orbit the rocket's fourth stage ignited prematurely and sent the probe into a wild tumble. It crashed into the ocean somewhere between the Chilean coast and Easter Island. The spacecraft sank, carrying with it 270 grams of plutonium-238.

Mars Pathfinder - USA Lander & Surface Rover - (December 1996)

The Mars Pathfinder will deliver a stationary lander and a surface rover to the Red Planet in July 1997. The six-wheel rover, named Sojourner, will explore the area near the lander. The mission's primary objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of low-cost landings on the Martian surface. This is the second mission in NASA's low-cost Discovery series.

Cassini/Huygens - USA & Europe Saturn Orbiter/Titan Probe - (1997)

The aim of the joint ESA/NASA Cassini mission will be the exploration of the whole Saturnian system - the planet itself, its atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere, and some of its moons (Titan and the icy satellites). Titan is especially interesting because its atmosphere is supposed to have properties very close to those of the terrestrial atmosphere in pre-biotic conditions. The Cassini mission will consist of the NASA-provided Saturn Orbiter coupled with ESA's Huygens probe, which will be dropped into Titan's atmosphere. During the three hours of its descent to the surface of Titan, and after touchdown, Huygens will study the characteristics of Titan's atmosphere and surface.

Lunar-A - Japan Lunar Probe - (Summer 1997)

Lunar-A will deliver three penetrators to the Moon's surface to study seismometry and thermal properties. The purpose is to learn more about the Moon's interior structure.

Lunar Prospector - USA Lunar Orbiter - (October 1997)

The Lunar Prospector is designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including the mapping of surface composition and possible ice deposits, the measuring of magnetic and gravity fields, and the study of lunar outgassing events. Its mission is scheduled to last one to three years.

Planet B - Japan Mars Orbiter - (August 1998)

Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) will launch this probe to study the Martian environment. This will be the first Japanese spacecraft to reach another planet.

Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter - USA Orbiter - (December 1998)

This orbiter is the companion spacecraft to the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander. The spacecraft will study the planet from polar orbit for at least 1.9 years using a variety of advanced instruments.

Mars Surveyor '98 Lander - USA Lander - (January 1999)

The lander is the companion spacecraft to the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter. The spacecraft will study the environment at the Martian south pole, seeking to understand planet's climate and soil. It will be equipped with metrological equipment to study the weather and a robotic arm to dig trenches in the soil.

Stardust - USA Comet Sample Return - (February 1999)

Stardust is scheduled to rendezvous with comet P/Wild 2 in January 2004, study the object, and collect material for analysis on Earth. The return capsule is scheduled to arrive back on Earth in January 2006.