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The first spacecraft to explore Jupiter was Pioneer 10, which flew past the planet in December 1973, followed by Pioneer 11 twelve months later. Pioneer 10 obtained the first close-up images of Jupiter and its Galilean moons; the spacecraft studied the planet's atmosphere, detected its magnetic field, observed its radiation belts and determined ...
The spacecraft recorded important heliophysics data in early August 1972 by registering a solar shock wave when it was at a distance of 2.2 AU (330 million km; 200 million mi). [38] On July 15, 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to enter the asteroid belt, [4] located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The project planners expected ...
The spacecraft flew by Earth twice; the first time at a range of 960 km (600 mi) at 20:34:34 UTC on December 8, 1990. [82] This was 8 km (5 mi) higher than predicted, and the time of the closest approach was within a second of the prediction. It was the first time that a deep space probe had returned to Earth from interplanetary space. [62]
First spacecraft to photograph another spacecraft landing on another celestial body (Phoenix, on Mars). USA (NASA) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter [55] 8 November 2008: First discovery of lunar water in the form of ice. [note 4] India Chandrayaan-1 [56] [57] 6 March 2009: First space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets. USA (NASA)
The spacecraft was expected to last for at least five years—long enough to reach Jupiter and perform its mission. [14] Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-34, carrying Galileo into Earth orbit. On December 19, 1985, it departed the JPL in Pasadena, California, on the first leg of its journey, a road trip to the Kennedy Space Center in ...
NASA is set to launch a spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa, considered one of our solar system's most promising spots to search for life beyond Earth, to learn whether this ice-encased world ...
The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, also known as Juice, flew past the moon on Aug. 19 and the Earth on Aug. 20. Both approaches were recorded between 5 and 6 p.m. EST, the ESA ...
The Europa Clipper launched Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket propelling it on a six-year journey to reach its namesake icy ocean world.