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NASA's Mariner 2 reaches the planet Venus
Mariner 2 reached the planet of Venus and got as close as 34,762 km away from the planet. The craft gained knowledge about surface temperature, recording it at 425C. They saw a dense cloud layer between 56 and 80 km above the surface and found there to be no magnetic field.
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Mariner 4 photos Mars at close range
Mariner 4 reached Mars and was able to take 22 photos of the planet. What they saw was a rust colored, cratered object. At a distance of 9,846 km, the craft made the inference that water may have once traveled across the planet.
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Venera 7 is first craft to land on another planet(Venus)
Venera 7, a Russian craft that was launched from Tyazheliy Sputnik entered Venusian atmosphere in Dec. 1970. Its mission was to travel to Venus to study the atmosphere and other significant planetary details. This was the first craft ever to land on another planet, and it returned signals to Earth for about 35 minutes.
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Pioneer 10 travels through the Asteroid Belt and Past Jupiter
Pioneer 10 was the first craft to make it past the orbit of Mars. The craft took many photos of Jupiter's rings and the moons that were in its orbit. It returned data on magnetic fields, energetic particle radiation and dust population while measuring the Jovian atmosphere.
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Viking 1 and 2 land on Mars
The Vikings found evidence of all elements on Mars that are essential to life; including Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Phosphorous. As the first successful landing mission on Mars, it was identified as a cold, weathered surface. The craft also noted the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the thinness of it.
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Voyager 1 and 2 discover faint rings, several new moons on Jupiter
The crafts entered Jupiter's atmosphere and quickly discovered a faint, thin ring of about 30 km. The craft took photos of many of the moon's surfaces. One of them, Io, showed a particularly bright surface and had many spewing volcanoes. It is regarded as one of the most active bodies in the solar system.
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Pioneer 11 is first spacecraft to reach saturn
Pioneer 11 was the first craft to reach Saturn, and discovered its F ring and a new moon. It also noted the overall temperature at -180C but interestingly the planet gives off 2.5 times more heat than it takes in. The craft is headed for the center of the galaxy and is marked with a plaque to identify itself to new life if it ever encounters such beings.
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Voyager 2 does a fly by of Uranus
Voyager 2 came within 81,500 km of Uranus and radioed thousands of shots back to Earth. The complex surface of the moons was noted and data of rings, atmosphere, and magnetic field was taken down. The craft also uncovered 10 previously unseen moons surrounded the planet.
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Voyager Reaches Neptune
The craft exposed the radiant blue color and deduced that it was due to the high amount of methane in the atmosphere. The winds on the planet were measured at up to 2400 km per hour; the fastest measured on any planet. Auroras were detected and they were related to the Northen and Southern Lights seen on Earth. -
First Wheeled Rover Roams Another Planet
Sojourner was a forerunner for rovers to come such as Spirit, Oppurtunity and Curiosity. The rover operated for 84 days, which was 12 times longer than predicted. It returned 550 photographs and performed chemical analyses on 16 sites surrounding the lander.
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Deep Space 1 does a fly by and photographs the Comet Borrelly
Deep Space 1 viewed the Comet Borrelly from a close 2200 km. It also tested 12 high risk, advanced technologies which gave insight to later missions. It examined the inner coma and dust surrounding the comet and took photos that were the most advanced yet.
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Stardust gains new knowledge of possible life while tracking comet Wild 2
Stardust flew within 240 km of the comet. It took samples into itself that gave wisdom to possible life. Also, it took detailed photos and since its launch in 1999, it has flown 3.22 billion miles and is still flying.
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Cassini Orbits Saturn
Cassini entered the orbit of the ringed planet, the first craft to do this feat. It studied Titan, one of Staurn's moons, in a very detailed manner. Scientists feel that underneath the spot on the south pole that spews out ice, there may be water.
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Venus Express launched to explore atmosphere and plasma of Venus
Venus Express was the first ESA craft to reach the planet of Venus. It was named for the short amount of time given to build and launch the craft; it was launched from Kazakhstan. It studied the temperature and components and compared each at different levels in the atmoshpere.
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New Horizons is launched to explore Pluto and beyond
New Horizons will travel about 5 billion km prior to its meaningful plunge through a gap about 300 km wide. Once through that point it will study Pluto, the far side and its moon Charon. It will also reach the Kuiper Belt, were comets are formed.
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MESSENGER reveals new information about Mercury
MESSENGER was sent to explore Mercury in a more in depth manner and it did so at a range of 200 km. It imaged the surface of the planet in near entirity, giving scientists more area to examine. In 2011, it became the first craft to orbit the planet in full.
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