Timeline of Solar System exploration

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates

Charted timeline of Solar System exploration through December 2014

This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordering events in the exploration of the Solar System by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:

It does not include:

  • Centuries of terrestrial telescopic observation.
  • The great majority of Earth-orbiting satellites.
  • Space probes leaving Earth orbit that are not concerned with Solar System exploration (such as space telescopes targeted at distant galaxies, cosmic background radiation observatories, and so on).
  • Probes that failed at launch.

The dates listed are launch dates, but the achievements noted may have occurred some time laterTemplate:Mdashin some cases, a considerable time later (for example, Voyager 2, launched 20 August 1977, did not reach Neptune until 1989).

1950s

Sputnik 1 – First Earth orbiter
Mission name Launch date Description Template:Abbr
Template:Flagicon Sputnik 1 4 October 1957 First Earth orbiter <ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Sputnik">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Sputnik 2 3 November 1957 Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika <ref name="Sputnik" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Explorer 1 1 February 1958 Earth orbiter; discovered Van Allen radiation belts <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Vanguard 1 17 March 1958 Earth orbiter; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Luna 1 2 January 1959 First lunar flyby (attempted lunar impact?); first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Luna">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Pioneer 4 3 March 1959 Lunar flyby <ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Luna 2 12 September 1959 First extraterrestrial impact and lunar impact, First artificial object on Moon <ref name="Luna" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagicon Luna 3 4 October 1959 Lunar flyby; First images of another celestial body taken from space, most notably, the far side of Moon <ref name="Luna" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1960s

Vostok 1 – First crewed Earth orbiter
Mariner 2 – First successful Venus flyby
Mariner 4 – First successful Mars flyby
Luna 9 – First successful lunar lander
Zond 5 – First lunar flyby and return to Earth, first terrestrials to circle the Moon
Apollo 8 – First crewed lunar orbiter
Apollo 11 – First crewed lunar landing

Template:Sticky header

1970s

Mars 3 – First Mars lander
Pioneer 10 – First Jupiter flyby
Mariner 10 – First Mercury flyby
Voyager 2 – First Uranus/first Neptune flyby

Template:Sticky header

1980s

Galileo – Mission to Jupiter

Template:Sticky header

1990s

Mars Pathfinder – Mars lander and the first successful Mars rover, Sojourner
Cassini–Huygens – First Saturn orbiter and first Titan lander

Template:Sticky header

2000s

Mars Express/Beagle 2 – First planetary mission by the ESA
MESSENGER – First Mercury orbiter
Chandrayaan-1 – Water Around Fresh Moon Crater

Template:Sticky header

2010s

Mars Science Laboratory – Mars lander and large rover
Mangalyaan – First Indian Mars orbiter
Trace Gas Orbiter – ESA/Roscosmos Mars orbiter

Template:Sticky header

2020s

NASA's Perseverance rover

Template:Sticky header

Planned or scheduled

Template:Main

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Space exploration lists and timelines Template:Planetary exploration Template:NASA planetary exploration programs Template:Solar System