Chronologies

• A Chronology of Mars Exploration In light of the recent Mars Pathfinder landing, this chronology covers both successful and unsuccessful, past and planned, U.S. and Russian/Soviet probes over the years.
• Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration, 1957-present

Probes

• Mariner : Series of planetary spacecraft flown between 1962 and 1975.
• Pioneer 10 : Jupiter flyby, 1972-1973, continued outside the Solar System thereafter.
• Pioneer 11 : Jupiter and Saturn flyby, 1973-1979, continued outside the Solar System thereafter.
• Viking 1 and 2 : Mars landers and orbiters, 1975-1983.
• Pioneer Venus 1 and 2 :Venus probes, 1978, mapped the planet's surface, imaged its cloud systems, and explored its magnetic environment.
• Voyager 1 and 2 : Grand Tour of the outer Solar System that imaged Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, launched in 1977 and it is still traveling outward. Also check out the NSSDC's Voyager information .
• Magellan : Venus probe that made the most highly detailed maps of the planet using sophisticated imaging radar, 1989-1994.
• Galileo : Mapping mission to Jupiter, also imaged Moon and asteroids, 1989-present.
• Cassini-Huygens : A joint NASA, ESA, and ASI mission that will orbit Saturn and land a probe on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
• Explorer : A listing of varied missions carrying the designation Explorer, conducted between 1958 and the early 1980s.

Steven J. Dick, NASA Chief Historian
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
Site design by NASA HQ Printing & Design
For further information email histinfo@hq.nasa.gov