INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT

WHERE HAVE INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT BEEN?
PROBES
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Exploring the planets and other bodies in the Solar System are interplanetary spacecraft. They carry advanced cameras and other instruments to detect radiation, magnetism, and tiny particles of matter.

WHERE HAVE INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT BEEN?

The first spacecraft were sent to explore the Moon, then the closest planets, Venus and Mars. By now, all the planets except Pluto have been visited. Most spacecraft fly by their targets, but some release a PROBE to explore the surface. Interplanetary spacecraft have also explored comets and asteroids.

Table 13. KEY INTERPLANETARY MISSIONS

DATE	MISSION	TARGET
1959	Luna 2	First to photograph far side of Moon
1965	Mariner 4	First close-up images of another planet (Mars)
1973	Pioneer 10	First close-up of Jupiter
1976	Viking 1, 2	First to land on Mars
1986	Voyager 2	First to explore Uranus
1986	Giotto	First close encounter with a comet (Halley’s)
2000	NEAR	First to land on an asteroid (Eros)

PROBES

A probe is a part of a larger spacecraft that is released to drop into the atmosphere or to the surface of a planet or a moon.

WHAT IS THE HUYGENS PROBE?

The Cassini orbiter carries a probe called Huygens. In 2005 Huygens will parachute down through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, sending back information as it falls to the surface.

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Mars

Saturn

Solar System