Space probe

Pioneer H hangs in a museum

A space probe is a scientific space exploration mission in which a spacecraft leaves Earth and explores space. It may approach the Moon, enter interplanetary, flyby or orbit other bodies, or approach interstellar space. Space probes are a form of robotic spacecraft.

See list of probes by operational status for a list of active probes; the space agencies of the USSR (now Russia and Ukraine), the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and India have in the aggregate launched probes to several planets and moons of the solar system as well as to a number of asteroids and comets.

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 method, but wasteful of fuel, would be to head straight for it. More complex techniques, such as gravitational slingshots, can be more fuel-efficient, though they may require the probe to spend more time in transit. A technique using very little propulsion, but possibly requiring a considerable amount of time, is to follow a trajectory on the Interplanetary Transport Network.^[1]

Some notable probes

Luna 16

First unmanned robotic sample return probe from Moon.

Lunokhod 1

First rover on Moon.

Mariner 10

First probe to Mercury.

Venera 3

Probe from the Soviet Union was the first man-made spacecraft to impact on another planet (Venus).

Venera 7

The Venera 7 probe was the first man-made spacecraft to successfully soft landing 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.^[2]

The Huygens landing site on Titan.

Mars 3

First soft landing on Mars.

Sojourner

First rover on Mars.

Spirit and Opportunity

The Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity surface and geology, and searched for clues to past water activity on Mars. They were each launched in 2003 and landed in 2004. As of January 24, 2009, both Spirit and Opportunity have lasted for more than five years on Mars—when they were intended to last only three months. On February 6, 2007, Opportunity had traversed more than 10 km (6.2 mi) on the surface of Mars.^[3]

Halley Armada

First multinational interplanetary probes.

ICE

First probe to comet.

VeGa

First balloons in atmosphere of Venus.

Sakigake

First non-US non-Soviet interplanetary probe.

Suisei

First UV-observation probe for comet.

Giotto

First probe passed cometary coma.

Genesis

First solar wind sample return probe from sun-earth L1.

Stardust

First sample return probe from comet tail.

NEAR Shoemaker

First probe to asteroid with landing.

Hayabusa

First sample return probe from asteroid.

Rosetta

The Rosetta space probe has flown by two asteroids and is aiming to rendezvous and explore comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is scheduled to arrive at the comet in 2014.^[4]

Pioneer 10

First probe to Jupiter.

Pioneer 11

First probe for 2 planets and first probe to Saturn.

Voyager 1

Voyager 1 is a 733-kilogram probe launched September 5, 1977. It is currently^[update] still operational, making it the longest-lasting mission of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 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.^{[citation needed]} As of July 23, 2010, Voyager 1 is over 17 terameters (1.7×10¹³ meters, or 1.7×10¹⁰ km, 110 AU, 15.7 light-hours, or 10.5 billion miles) from the Sun.^[5]

Voyager 2

Voyager 2 first probe for 4 planets and first probe to Uranus and Neptune.

Huygens

First landing on Titan

New Horizons

First probe to be launched to Pluto

Juno

First probe to Jupiter without atomic battery, launched August 8, 2011.

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 Voyager 2 have both achieved solar escape velocity, meaning that their trajectories will not return them to the solar system.^{[citation needed]}

Probe imagers

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

Name	Aperture cm (in.)	Type	Where	When
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — HiRISE	50 cm (19.7″)	R/C	Mars orbit	2005
Mars Global Surveyor — MOC[6]	35 cm (13.8″)	R/C	Mars orbit	1996–2006
New Horizons — LORRI	20.8 cm (8.2″)	R/C	Space (33+ AU from Earth)	2006
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LROC-NAC[7]	19.5 cm (7.68″)	Reflector	Lunar orbit	2009
Galileo - Solid State Imager[8]	17.65 cm (6.95″)	Reflector	Jupiter	1989-2003
Voyager 1/2, ISS-NAC[9]	17.6 cm (6.92″)	Catadioptric	Space	1977
Mariner 10 - TV Photo Experiment (x2)[10]	15 cm (5.9″)	Reflector	Space	1973-1975
Deep Space 1 — MICAS[11]	10 cm ( 3.94″)	Reflector	Solar orbit	1998-2001
Voyager 1/2, ISS-WAC[9]	6 cm (2.36″)	Lens	Space	1977
MESSENGER MDIS-WAC[12]	3 cm (1.18″)	Lens	Mercury orbit	2004
MESSENGER MDIS-NAC[12]	2.5 cm (0.98″)	R/C	Mercury orbit	2004
Dawn Framing Camera (FC1/FC2)[13]	2 cm (0.8″)	Lens	Asteroid belt	2007

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.

See also

	Spaceflight portal
	Space portal
	Robotics portal

• Space capsule
• Viking program 1975-1982
• Pioneer 10 1972-2003
• Mariner 10 1973-1975
• Space exploration
• U.S. Space Exploration History on U.S. Stamps
• Interstellar probe
• Unmanned spacecraft

Further reading

• McNutt, et al. - Radioisotope Electric Propulsion (2006) - NASA Glenn Research Center (includes Centaur orbiter mission)
• Scott W. Benson - Solar Power for Outer Planets Study (2007) - NASA Glenn Research Center

References

1. ^ Next exit 0.5 Million Kilometers
2. ^ http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/past/mariner8-9.html
3. ^ "Opportunity Passes 10-Kilometer Mark". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/opp-20070207.html. 
4. ^ "Where Comets Emit Dust: Scientists Identify the Active Regions on the Surface of Comets" - ScienceDaily (Apr. 29, 2010)
5. ^ Voyager - Mission - Interstellar Mission
6. ^ Mars Global Surveyor
7. ^ eoportal - LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) - LROC
8. ^ Basics of Spaceflight (Ch. 12) - NASA/JPL
9. ^ ^{a b} astronautix - voyager
10. ^ NASA/NSSDC - Mariner 10 - Television Photography
11. ^ NASA DS1
12. ^ ^{a b} Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) - NASA/NSSDC
13. ^ Sierks, et al. - The Dawn Framing Camera: A Telescope En Route to the Asteroid Belt - MPS/DLR/IDA

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

External links

• JPL - What Is a Space Probe? (2010)