Space probe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A planned 1974 probe, Pioneer H, on display in a museum.
Some twenty space probes are operational as of September 2014.
A space probe is a unmanned spacecraft that leaes !arth orbit and e"plores space.
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%t may approach the
&oon' enter interplanetary space' fly by, orbit or land on other planetary bodies' or approach interstellar space.
(pace probes are a form of robotic spacecraft.
(ee list of probes by operational status for a list of actie probes' the space a)encies of the *((+ ,no- +ussia
and *kraine., the *nited (tates, the !uropean *nion, /apan, 0hina and %ndia hae in the a))re)ate launched
probes to seeral planets and moons of the solar system as -ell as to a number of asteroids and comets. &ore
than t-enty missions are currently e"tant.
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Contents
1 %nterplanetary tra2ectories
1 (ome notable probes
o 1.1 3una 9
o 1.1 3una 14
o 1.5 3unokhod 1
o 1.4 &ariner 16
o 1.7 8enera 4
o 1.4 8enera 7
o 1.7 &ariner 9
o 1.9 &ars 5
o 1.9 (o2ourner
o 1.16 Spirit and Opportunity
o 1.11 Halley Armada
1.11.1 %0!
1.11.1 8e)a
1.11.5 (aki)ake
1.11.4 (uisei
1.11.7 :iotto
o 1.11 :enesis
o 1.15 (tardust
o 1.14 ;!A+ (hoemaker
o 1.17 Hayabusa
o 1.14 +osetta
o 1.17 Pioneer 16
o 1.19 Pioneer 11
o 1.19 8oya)er 1
o 1.16 8oya)er 1
o 1.11 Huy)ens
o 1.11 ;e- Hori<ons
o 1.15 =a-n
o 1.14 /uno
o 1.17 0han)>e 1
o 1.14 ?eyond the (olar (ystem
5 Probe ima)ers
4 :allery
7 (ee also
4 +eferences
7 (ources
9 Further readin)
9 !"ternal links
Interplanetary trajectories
@nce a probe has left the icinity of !arth, its tra2ectory -ill likely take it alon) an orbit around the (un similar
to the !arth>s orbit. Ao reach another planet, the simplest practical method is a Hohmann transfer orbit. &ore
comple" techniBues, such as )raitational slin)shots, can be more fuelCefficient, thou)h they may reBuire the
probe to spend more time in transit. (ome hi)h =eltaC8 missions ,such as those -ith hi)h inclination chan)es.
can only be performed, -ithin the limits of modern propulsion, usin) )raitational slin)shots. A techniBue usin)
ery little propulsion, but reBuirin) a considerable amount of time, is to follo- a tra2ectory on the %nterplanetary
Aransport ;et-ork.
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Some notable probes
%t has been su))ested that this article be mer)ed into Timeline of Solar System exploration. ,=iscuss.
Proposed since May 2014.
Luna 9
First manCmade ob2ect to land on the &oon, or any other e"tra terrestrial surface.
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Luna 16
First unmanned robotic sample return probe from the &oon.
Lunokhod 1
First roer on &oon. %t -as sent to the &oon on ;oember 16, 1976.
Mariner 10
First probe to &ercury.
Venera 4
First successful inCplace analysis of another planet. %t may hae also been the first space probe to impact the
surface of another planet, althou)h it is unclear -hether it reached 8enus>s surface.
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Venera
Ahe 8enera 7 probe -as the first manCmade spacecraft to successfully soft land on another planet ,8enus. and
to transmit data from there back to !arth.
Mariner 9
*pon its arrial at &ars on ;oember 15, 1971, &ariner 9 became the first space probe to maintain orbit
around another planet.
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Ahe Huyens landin) site on Aitan
Mars !
First soft landin) on &ars ,bet-een 1946 and 1975..
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Althou)h, the spacecraft failed shortly after
landin).
Sojourner
First successful roer on &ars.
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Spirit and Opportunity
Ahe &ars !"ploration +oers, Spirit and Opportunity surface and )eolo)y, and searched for clues to past -ater
actiity on &ars. Ahey -ere each launched in 1665 and landed in 1664. 0ommunication -ith Spirit stopped on
sol 1116 ,&arch 11, 1616..
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/P3 continued to attempt to re)ain contact until &ay 14, 1611, -hen ;A(A
announced that efforts to communicate -ith the unresponsie roer had ended.
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Opportunity arried at
!ndeaour crater on 9 Au)ust 1611, at a landmark called Spirit Point named after its roer t-in, after traersin)
15 miles from 8ictoria crater, oer a threeCyear period.
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As of /anuary 14, 1611, Opportunity has lasted for
more than ei)ht years on &ars D althou)h the roers -ere intended to last only three months.
"alley #rmada
Ahe first dedicated missions to a comet' in this case, to Halley>s 0omet durin) its 1997C94 2ourney throu)h the
inner solar system. %t -as also the first massie international coordination of space probes on an interplanetary
mission, -ith probes specifically launched by the (oiet ,no- +ussian. (pace A)ency, !uropean (pace A)ency
and /apan>s %(A( ,no- inte)rated -ith ;A(=A to /AEA..
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@ri)inal a solar obseratory in the %nternational (unC!arth !"plorer series, it -as sent into solar orbit to make
the first close obserations of a comet, 0omet :iacobiniCFinner, in 1997 as a prelude to studies of Halley>s
0omet.
Ve%a
A-o +ussianGFrench spacecraft. Ahey dropped landers and balloons ,first -eather ballons deployed on another
planet. at 8enus before their rende<ous -ith Halley>s 0omet.
Saki%ake
Ahis /apanese probe -as the first nonC*(, nonC(oiet interplanetary probe.
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Suisei
A second /apanese probe, it made ultraiolet -aelen)th obserations of the comet.
&iotto
Ahe first space probe to penetrate a comet>s coma and take closeCup ima)es of its nucleus.
&enesis
First solar -ind sample return probe from sunCearth 31.
#citation needed$
Stardust
First sample return probe from a comet tail.
'$#( Shoemaker
First probe to land on an asteroid.
"ayabusa
First sample return probe to launch from an asteroid.
(osetta
Ahe +osetta space probe has flo-n by t-o asteroids and is aimin) to rende<ous and e"plore comet
47PG0huryumoC:erasimenko. %t rende<oused -ith the comet in Au)ust 1614.
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)ioneer 10
First probe to /upiter.
)ioneer 11
First probe to fly by t-o planets and first probe to (aturn. ,0ommunications -ere lost due to po-er constraints
and ast distance..
Voya%er 1
!oyaer 1 is a 755Ckilo)ram probe launched (eptember 7, 1977. %t is currently still operational, makin) it the
lon)estClastin) mission of the *.(. ;ational Aeronautics and (pace Administration ,;A(A.. %t isited /upiter
and (aturn and -as the first probe to proide detailed ima)es of the moons of these planets.
!oyaer 1 is the farthest humanCmade ob2ect from !arth, traelin) a-ay from both the !arth and the (un at a
relatiely faster speed than any other probe.
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As of (eptember 11, 1615, !oyaer 1 is about 11 billion miles
from the (un.
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@n Au)ust 17, 1611, !oyaer 1 became the first human made ob2ect to enter interstellar space.
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!oyaer 1 has
not had a functionin) plasma sensor since 1996, but a solar flare in 1611 allo-ed scientists from ;A(A to
measure ibrations of the plasma surroundin) the craft. Ahe ibrations allo-ed scientists to measure the plasma
to be much denser than measurements taken in the far layers of our heliosphere, thus concludin) the craft had
broken beyond the heliopause.
Voya%er *
!oyaer 2 -as the first probe to complete the Planetary :rand Aour of the )as )iants, and the first probe to isit
*ranus and ;eptune.8oya)er 1 is the secondCfarthest humanCmade ob2ect from !arth, ne"t to 8oya)er 1 at a
distance of 161.1 A* as of /uly 11, 1615.
"uy%ens
First landin) on Aitan on /anuary 14, 1667.
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'e+ "ori,ons
First probe to be launched to Pluto. 3aunched on 19 /anuary 1664 -ith an estimated arrial date at the PlutoH
0haron system of 14 /uly 1617.
-a+n
First spacecraft to isit and orbit a protoplanet ,4 8esta., enterin) orbit on /uly 14, 1611.
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.uno
First probe to /upiter -ithout atomic battery,
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launched Au)ust 9, 1611.
Chan%/e *
First probe to orbit the &oon, isit (unC!arth 31 3an)ran)ian point and make a flyby of asteroid 4179 Aoutatis.
#citation needed$
0eyond the Solar System
Alon) -ith Pioneer 16, Pioneer 11, and its sister space probe 8oya)er 1, 8oya)er 1 is no- an interstellar probe.
!oyaer 1 and !oyaer 2 hae both achieed solar escape elocity, meanin) that their tra2ectories -ill not
return them to the solar system.
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)robe ima%ers
!"amples of space probe ima)in) telescopeGcameras ,focused on isible spectrum..
'ame
#perture
cm 1in23
4ype 5here 5hen
&ars +econnaissance @rbiterDHi+%(! 76 cm ,19.7I. +G0 &ars orbit 1667
&ars :lobal (ureyorD&@0
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57 cm ,15.9I. +G0 &ars orbit 1994H1664
;e- Hori<onsD3@++%
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16.9 cm ,9.1I. +G0 (pace ,55J A* from !arth. 1664
3unar +econnaissance @rbiter 3+@0C;A0
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19.7 cm ,7.49I. +eflector 3unar orbit 1669
0assiniD%((C;A0
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19 cm ,7.7I. +eflector (aturn orbit 1664
:alileo C (olid (tate %ma)er
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17.47 cm ,4.97I. +eflector /upiter 1999C1665
8oya)er 1G1, %((C;A0
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17.4 cm ,4.91I. 0atadioptric (pace 1977
&ariner 16 C A8 Photo !"periment ,"1.
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17 cm ,7.9I. +eflector (pace 1975C1977
=eep (pace 1D&%0A(
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16 cm , 5.94I. +eflector (olar orbit 1999C1661
8oya)er 1G1, %((CWA0
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4 cm ,1.54I. 3ens (pace 1977
0assiniD%((CWA0
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7.7 cm ,1.1I. 3ens (aturn orbit 1664
&!((!;:!+ &=%(CWA0
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5 cm ,1.19I. 3ens &ercury orbit 1664
&!((!;:!+ &=%(C;A0
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1.7 cm ,6.99I. +G0 &ercury orbit 1664
=a-n Framin) 0amera ,F01GF01.
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1 cm ,6.9I. 3ens Asteroid belt 1667
%ma)e formin) systems on space probes typically hae a multitude of specifications, but aperture can be useful
because it constrains the best diffraction limit and li)ht )atherin) area.
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&allery

Photo)raph of !oyaer 1 G !oyaer 2

Artist>s concept of Pioneer 10 G Pioneer 11

Artist>s concept of Pioneer 10 near /upiter

Artist>s concept of $ew "ori%ons

Artist>s concept of 0assini in (aturn>s @rbit

Artist>s concept of :alileo encounter -ith %o

Artist depiction of (tardust durin) the >burnCtoCdepletion> phase

Artist depiction of &ars :lobal (ureyor

Aitan4b on 3aunch pad