Missions to the Solar System

A joint NASA/German probe that flew inside Mercury’s orbit to measure the solar wind, magnetic fields and cosmic rays close to the Sun. Its close solar passes made it the benchmark for near-Sun exploration until Parker Solar Probe.

Used a Jupiter gravity assist to leave the ecliptic and study the Sun from above and below its poles. Its measurements showed how the solar wind and magnetic field change with latitude across the solar cycle.

A Sun-watching observatory parked near the Sun-Earth L1 point, where it can stare at the Sun continuously. Its coronagraphs made it a workhorse for space-weather forecasting and an unexpected comet-discovery machine.

Uses repeated Venus gravity assists to dive through the Sun’s outer atmosphere and sample the solar wind near its source. Its heat shield keeps the spacecraft alive while it studies why the corona is so hot and how energetic particles accelerate.

Carries remote cameras and in-situ instruments on a tilted orbit that gradually reveals the Sun’s polar regions. The mission links what happens on the solar surface with the particles and magnetic fields measured around the spacecraft.

The first mission to use a gravity assist at one planet to reach another: Venus bent its path toward Mercury. Mariner 10 revealed Mercury’s heavily cratered surface and detected that the small planet has a magnetic field.

Entered Mercury orbit after a long sequence of planetary flybys and mapped the entire planet in detail. It found evidence for water ice in permanently shadowed polar craters and measured Mercury’s unusually large core and magnetic field.

A combined ESA/JAXA mission carrying two orbiters: one focused on Mercury’s surface and interior, the other on its magnetosphere. Solar-electric propulsion and gravity assists are lowering it into Mercury orbit for a planned November 2026 arrival.

Flew past Venus in December 1962 and returned the first successful data from another planet. Its measurements confirmed that Venus is extremely hot and helped establish spacecraft exploration as a practical way to study planets.

Entered Venus’s atmosphere and returned direct measurements of temperature, pressure and composition. It showed that the atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide and far denser than expected.

The first spacecraft to return data after a soft landing on another planet. It transmitted from Venus’s crushing, high-temperature surface long enough to prove just how hostile the lower atmosphere is.

Combined an orbiter with a lander and returned the first images taken from the surface of another planet. The pictures showed a rocky, slab-covered Venusian landscape under dense clouds.

A rugged lander built to survive Venus’s heat and pressure long enough to send color panoramas and surface measurements. It also analyzed soil with an onboard drill and spectrometer.

Each mission released a lander and a balloon into Venus’s atmosphere before continuing toward Halley’s Comet. The balloons drifted in the cloud layer and directly sampled winds and weather.

Used radar to see through Venus’s clouds and build a near-global map of the surface. Its data revealed volcanoes, broad lava plains and tectonic features that still define how scientists read Venus today.

ESA’s long-running Venus orbiter studied the atmosphere, clouds, plasma environment and surface temperatures from polar orbit. It also performed aerobraking experiments near the end of the mission.

JAXA’s Venus Climate Orbiter studies weather, clouds and atmospheric waves from orbit. After missing its first orbit insertion, it recovered years later and became a rare long-term observer of Venusian meteorology.

A small radio beacon that proved artificial satellites could be placed in orbit and tracked from Earth. Its launch changed geopolitics, science and engineering overnight by opening the Space Age.

A one-orbit flight that carried Yuri Gagarin around Earth and proved humans could survive launch, microgravity and reentry. The mission shaped every later crewed spacecraft program.

The first crewed mission to leave Earth orbit and orbit the Moon. Its navigation, communications and lunar-orbit operations cleared the way for Apollo 11, while Earthrise changed how people saw Earth.

A modular laboratory assembled in orbit by international crews and cargo vehicles. It supports long-duration human spaceflight, microgravity science and technology tests for future deep-space missions.

An impactor, not a soft lander: it struck the Moon and proved that a spacecraft could reach another celestial body. The mission also helped confirm that the Moon had no strong global magnetic field or radiation belts like Earth’s.

Flew around the Moon and photographed the far side for the first time, revealing terrain no human had ever seen from Earth. Its images led to the first rough maps of the lunar far side.

Made the first survivable soft landing on the Moon and sent back panoramic surface images. Its success showed that the lunar soil could support a lander, easing fears that spacecraft might sink into deep dust.

Entered lunar orbit in April 1966 and became the first spacecraft to orbit another world. It measured the Moon’s gravity, radiation environment and surface radio emissions from orbit.

NASA’s first successful soft landing on the Moon, achieved on the first Surveyor attempt. It returned thousands of images and engineering data needed for Apollo landing planning.

Carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon, with Eagle landing in the Sea of Tranquility. The crew deployed experiments, collected samples and returned safely to Earth.

A robotic lander drilled into the lunar surface, launched a small return capsule and delivered soil to Earth. It proved sample return could be done without a crew.

Delivered by Luna 17, this remote-controlled rover drove across Mare Imbrium for months. It tested soil mechanics, imaged the surface and carried a laser reflector still useful for ranging.

The final Apollo surface mission and the only one to include a professional geologist, Harrison Schmitt. The crew explored the Taurus-Littrow valley with a rover and returned a major collection of lunar samples.

Placed a lander and rover on the Moon’s far side, communicating through a relay satellite because Earth is never visible from the landing site. It opened direct surface exploration of terrain that had only been studied from orbit.

Landed in Oceanus Procellarum, drilled and scooped young volcanic material, then returned it to Earth. The samples refreshed lunar chronology after a decades-long gap in sample-return missions.

Demonstrated India’s first successful lunar soft landing and rover operations. Its south-polar-region landing made it especially relevant for studies of shadowed terrain, temperature extremes and future exploration zones.

A commercial Nova-C lander that touched down near the lunar south-polar region under NASA’s CLPS program. It returned data despite landing tilted, marking a new commercial phase of lunar delivery.

Returned the first close-up images of Mars and showed a cratered, colder world than many had imagined. The flyby transformed Mars from a telescopic mystery into a target for robotic geology.

Arrived during a global dust storm and waited until the atmosphere cleared, then mapped Mars from orbit. It revealed giant volcanoes, Valles Marineris and dry channels that hinted at a wetter past.

Reached the surface during a difficult Soviet orbiter-lander mission and transmitted briefly after touchdown. Even with the short signal, it marked the first soft landing on Mars.

Combined an orbiter and a stationary lander, returning the first long-lived surface data from Mars. Its biology experiments were designed to look for signs of life and remain one of the most discussed results in planetary science.

Mapped Mars for years with the Mars Orbiter Camera, laser altimeter and other instruments. Its data reshaped understanding of Martian topography, climate history and surface change.

A low-cost lander that proved airbags and a small rover could work on Mars. Sojourner tested mobile surface operations and helped launch the modern era of Mars rovers.

Mapped hydrogen near the Martian surface, helping reveal water ice deposits, and became a durable communications relay. It remains one of the key infrastructure missions around Mars.

ESA’s first planetary mission carried radar, imaging and atmospheric instruments to Mars orbit. It has mapped minerals, studied the atmosphere and investigated subsurface structures for decades.

Twin solar-powered rovers sent to follow evidence of past water from the ground. Spirit uncovered altered rocks in Gusev crater, while Opportunity found strong signs of ancient water at Meridiani Planum and lasted far beyond its planned mission.

Carries HiRISE, one of the most powerful cameras ever sent to another planet, plus radar and climate instruments. It also relays huge volumes of data from landers and rovers.

A nuclear-powered rover built to study whether Mars ever had environments suitable for life. In Gale crater it found ancient lake deposits and organic molecules while climbing the lower slopes of Mount Sharp.

Studies Mars’s upper atmosphere and how solar wind strips gas away to space. Its results explain how a once wetter planet could lose much of its atmosphere over time.

A stationary geophysics lander that placed the first highly sensitive seismometer on Mars. Marsquakes measured by InSight revealed the size and structure of the crust, mantle and core.

The UAE’s orbiter observes Mars weather and atmospheric escape over global scales and local times. It made the Emirates the first Arab nation to reach Mars.

China’s first Mars mission succeeded with an orbiter plus a lander-rover system on its first attempt. Zhurong explored Utopia Planitia while the orbiter continued remote sensing and relay work.

Explores Jezero crater, an ancient lake basin and delta, while collecting sealed rock cores for possible return to Earth. It also carried Ingenuity, the technology-demonstration helicopter that proved powered flight on Mars.

The first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and fly by Jupiter. It measured Jupiter’s radiation belts and returned the first close-up views of the giant planet before heading outward on an escape path.

The twin flybys turned Jupiter into a system of worlds, not just a planet. They found active volcanoes on Io, studied the Galilean moons in detail and revealed Jupiter’s faint ring system.

Spent years orbiting Jupiter and repeatedly flying past its major moons. It also released an atmospheric probe that directly sampled Jupiter’s clouds, winds and composition during descent.

A solar-powered orbiter in a highly elongated polar orbit designed to look beneath Jupiter’s cloud tops. It maps gravity, magnetic fields, auroras and deep atmospheric structure to probe how Jupiter formed.

Built to make dozens of close flybys of Europa from Jupiter orbit rather than orbiting Europa directly. Its instruments will study the moon’s ice shell, ocean, chemistry and geology to assess habitability.

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer is using inner Solar System gravity assists to reach Jupiter. After flybys of Europa, Callisto and Ganymede, it is planned to orbit Ganymede directly.

Made the first Saturn flyby and tested the route later used by Voyager. It studied Saturn’s radiation and rings, discovered a small moon, and showed that close passage through the ring plane was possible.

The Voyager flybys transformed Saturn science with close studies of the rings, atmosphere and moons. Voyager 1 targeted Titan closely, while Voyager 2 continued the Grand Tour toward Uranus and Neptune.

Orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 and watched the system change through seasons. It discovered active water-ice plumes at Enceladus, mapped ring structure and repeatedly flew past Titan.

A probe carried by Cassini that descended through Titan’s atmosphere and landed on its surface. It measured winds and atmospheric chemistry and returned images of river-like channels and rounded icy pebbles.

A planned rotorcraft lander for Titan, where the dense atmosphere and low gravity make flight efficient. It will hop between sites to study organic chemistry, habitability and surface materials in the dune fields.

The only spacecraft to visit Uranus, making a fast flyby in January 1986. It found new moons and rings, measured a strangely tilted magnetic field and gave the only close-up images of Uranus’s major moons.

The only spacecraft to visit Neptune, reaching it in August 1989 after gravity assists from the giant planets. It discovered fast-changing weather, faint rings and active nitrogen geysers on Triton.

The first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt up close. Its flyby revealed mountains of water ice, nitrogen glaciers, a complex atmosphere and a surprisingly active dwarf planet system.

ESA’s Giotto flew through the dusty environment around Halley’s Comet and imaged its nucleus up close. The mission helped turn comets from fuzzy telescopic objects into geologically specific worlds.

Orbited asteroid Eros for a year, mapping its shape, composition and gravity, then made a controlled touchdown on the surface. It was not designed as a lander, but survived long enough to return data after landing.

JAXA’s difficult sample-return mission visited asteroid Itokawa, survived major spacecraft problems and returned grains to Earth. It proved asteroid sample return was possible.

Ion propulsion let Dawn orbit Vesta, leave, and then orbit Ceres, something chemical propulsion could not easily do. It revealed Vesta as a differentiated protoplanet and Ceres as an icy, chemically active dwarf planet.

Rosetta escorted comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko around the Sun while Philae attempted the first landing on a comet nucleus. Together they showed how a comet changes as sunlight wakes it up.

Returned material from carbon-rich asteroid Ryugu after deploying small landers and creating an artificial crater. The samples help compare asteroid chemistry with meteorites and early Solar System material.

A kinetic impactor deliberately struck Dimorphos, the small moon of asteroid Didymos. Follow-up observations showed the impact changed the moonlet’s orbit, proving a practical planetary-defense technique.

Collected material from asteroid Bennu and delivered it to Earth in 2023. The returned sample is rich in primitive Solar System material and is now being studied for clues about water, carbon and planet formation.

ESA’s Hera mission will revisit the Didymos-Dimorphos system to measure DART’s crater, mass effects and impact outcome in detail. It turns the deflection test into a calibrated planetary-defense experiment.

A long-duration mission to multiple Jupiter Trojan asteroids, with a main-belt asteroid flyby already completed. It studies leftover planet-building material trapped near Jupiter’s orbit.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is headed to a metal-rich asteroid that may expose material similar to a planetary core. Its measurements should test ideas about differentiation and early planet formation.