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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 ...
17 August 1970 First Venus lander and the first spacecraft to "soft" land on another planet (with some data returned from the surface) [18] [161] [162] Luna 16: 12 September 1970 First robotic lunar sample return [10] [163] Zond 8: 20 October 1970 Lunar flyby and return to Earth [46] [164] [165] Luna 17/Lunokhod 1: 10 November 1970 First remote ...
Over the following three centuries, only a few more moons were discovered. Missions to other planets in the 1970s, most notably the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, saw a surge in the number of moons detected, and observations since the year 2000, using mostly large, ground-based optical telescopes, have discovered many more, all of which are irregular.
There are 293 confirmed moons in our cosmic neighborhood. By studying these worlds, astronomers hope to learn about ancient asteroid collisions, space volcanoes, and the origins of life itself.
Jupiter and moons 1980 flyby Saturn and moons Voyager 2: 1979 flyby ... Entered orbit 1 July 2004. First probe to orbit Saturn. Discovered seven new moons.
Moon of Pluto: When discovered, Charon, the moon of Pluto, was found to be very large, leading to the declaration by many that the Pluto-Charon system was a double planet (binary planet). The 2006 IAU redefinition of planet excludes the possibility of double planets. [24] [25] [26] 15760 Albion: 1992 unknown Trans-Neptunian object
Because of the proximity of the Mars moons to Mars, any mission to them may also be considered a mission to Mars from some perspectives. Past missions Three missions to land on Phobos have been launched; the Soviet Phobos program in the late 1980s saw the launch of Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 , while the Russian Fobos-Grunt sample return mission was ...
Eventually, new moons were discovered also around Uranus starting in 1787 by Herschel, [23] around Neptune starting in 1846 by William Lassell [24] and around Mars in 1877 by Asaph Hall. [25] Further apparent discrepancies in the orbits of the outer planets led Percival Lowell to conclude that yet another planet, "Planet X", must lie beyond ...