Outer solar system missions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Outer solar system missions
- Pioneer 10 (Pioneer F) - Jupiter, interstellar space, launched March 3, 1972
- Pioneer 11 (Pioneer G) - Jupiter, Saturn, interstellar space, launched April 6, 1973
- Pioneer H - Proposed Out-Of-The-Ecliptic mission (OOE) - identical to Pioneers 10 and 11, but never launched.
Voyager Program - Originally conceived as part of the Mariner program, being Mariner 11 and Mariner 12 respectively. The original program name was Mariner Jupiter-Saturn. It was later given the more appealing and romantic name "Voyager".
- Voyager 1 (Mariner 11) - Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, interstellar space, launched September 5, 1977
- Voyager 2 (Mariner 12) - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Triton, interstellar space, launched August 20, 1977
As with the Pioneer program two decades earlier, current federal budget shifts prompted by George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration, may deactivate and abandon the Voyager and Ulysses probes [1] as early as October 2005, before they observe the heliopause, disappointing today's scientists - as they did the Pioneer program scientists in the 1980s. However, the extension of this program continues to be funded into 2006.
Galileo - Jupiter launched October 18, 1989. September 21, 2003 (end of mission) - Targeted into Jupiter's atmosphere.
Ulysses - Out-Of-The-Ecliptic mission (OOE) Solar observation launched October 9, 1990. Bonus observation: 1994 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 observation at 2.6 AU
Cassini-Huygens - Jupiter, Saturn, Titan launched October 15, 1997 - currently orbiting Saturn system.
Deep Space 1 - asteroid Braille, Comet Borrely launched October 24, 1998. Deep Space 1 was retired on December 18, 2001.
New Horizons - Pluto, Charon, Kuiper Belt Objects launched January 19, 2006.
