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Mission: investigating Jupiter and Saturn, and the moons of these planets. Its continuing data feed offered the first direct measurements of the heliosheath and the heliopause. It is currently the furthest man-made object from Earth, as well as the first object to leave the heliosphere and cross into interstellar space.
First solar-powered Jupiter orbiter, first mission to achieve a polar orbit of Jupiter. 2011-040A: JUICE: ESA: 14 April 2023 (launch) orbiter en route mission to study Jupiter's three icy moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, eventually orbiting Ganymede as the first spacecraft to orbit a satellite of another planet. [60] Europa Clipper: NASA
Was intended to orbit the Moon but instead orbited the Earth. Explored solar winds, interplanetary plasma, and solar X-rays. August 10 US: Lunar Orbiter 1: Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D: Moon Success: First US spacecraft to orbit the Moon. Designed to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selecting landing sites. August 17 US: Pioneer 7: Delta ...
Moons are classed into two separate categories according to their orbits: regular moons, which have prograde orbits (they orbit in the direction of their planets' rotation) and lie close to the plane of their equators, and irregular moons, whose orbits can be pro- or retrograde (against the direction of their planets' rotation) and often lie at ...
Mars orbiter and attempted lander (lander failure) [457] [458] OSIRIS-REx: 8 September 2016 Asteroid sample return mission (sample returned 24 September 2023 [needs update]) [459] [460] InSight: 5 May 2018 Mars lander [461] [462] Queqiao: 20 May 2018 Relay satellite for Chang'e 4 in Halo orbit around Earth–Moon L 2 Lagrange point [463] Parker ...
The Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft passed by Jupiter in 2007 and made improved measurements of its and its satellites' parameters. The Galileo spacecraft was the first to have entered orbit around Jupiter, arriving in 1995 and studying the planet until 2003.
The seven largest natural satellites in the Solar System (those bigger than 2,500 km across) are Jupiter's Galilean moons (Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa), Saturn's moon Titan, Earth's moon, and Neptune's captured natural satellite Triton. Triton, the smallest of these, has more mass than all smaller natural satellites together.
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...