© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Explorer 1 Launch Date: Jan. 31, 1958 Arrival Date: Jan. 31, 1958 End of mission: Feb. 28, 1958 First U.S. spacecraft. It was built and developed by the U.S. Army and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory before NASA was funded. Built to orbit the Earth and record data. Each orbit took 115 minutes. The data led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt which encircles the Earth.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Mariner 2 Launch Date: Aug. 27, 1962 Arrival Date: Dec. 14, 1962 End of mission: Jan. 3, 1963 First spacecraft designed to travel to another planet. Discovered the characteristics of Venus’ atmosphere. Confirmed the existence of the solar wind. Mariner 1 failed, and Mariner 2 was used as a backup.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX The purpose of the Ranger missions was to take pictures of the moon. The quality of the images was 1000 times better than pictures taken from Earth. The pictures helped NASA scientists choose a landing site for the Apollo moon missions. Ranger 7, 8, and 9 spacecraft Launch dates: Jul. 28, 1964; Feb. 17; Mar. 21, 1965 Arrival dates: Jul. 31, 1964; Feb. 20; Mar. 24, 1965 End of Mission: Mar. 24, 1965

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Apollo Missions The Apollo missions were comprised of seventeen individual missions, six of which resulted in moon landings. The Apollo missions were designed to showcase America’s superior technology. Twelve men stepped foot on the moon and gathered soil and rock samples and other data. These were the last missions to send people to a destination, rather than an orbit, in space.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Mariner 4 Launch Date: Nov. 28, 1964 Arrival Date: Jul. 14, 1965 End of Mission: Dec. 20, 1967 Mariner 4 was the first mission to travel to Mars. The probe took 22 pictures which were sent back to Earth in 4 days. Surface features of Mars, such as red-colored surface, craters, and evidence of erosion due to liquid movement, were discovered as a result of the Mariner 4 mission.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Mariner 5 Launch Date: Jun. 14, 1967 Arrival Date: Oct. 19, 1967 Status: Completed Mariner 5 was built to be identical to Mariner 4, but was equipped with different instruments and was sent to Venus. The Mariner 5 mission discovered that Venus’ atmospheric composition is 85-99% carbon dioxide.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Surveyor Program Launch Dates: May 30, Jan. 7, 1968 Arrival Dates: Jun. 2, Jan. 10, 1968 End of Mission: Jul. 14, Feb. 21, 1968 There were seven Surveyor missions, but only five were successful. Each of them tested landing techniques and locations for the Apollo missions. Thousands of pictures were transmitted by the Surveyor spacecraft. The astronauts from the Apollo 12 mission visited Surveyor 3.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Mariners 6 and 7 Launch Dates: Mariner 6: Feb. 24, 1969 Mariner 7: Mar. 27, 1969 Arrival Dates: Mariner 6: Jul. 31, 1969 Mariner 7: Aug. 4, 1969 Mariners 6 and 7 were identical space probes. They gathered information about Mars and sent back 198 higher-quality pictures to Earth. The images sent back by Mariner 4 made scientists think that Mars was similar to the moon, but the new images gave them a clearer impression of Mars.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Mariner 9 Launch Date: May 30, 1971 Arrival Date: Nov. 14, 1971 End of mission: Oct. 27, 1972 Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft designed to orbit another planet. Its time in orbit around Mars allowed it to photograph more than 80% of the Martian surface. The Mariner 9 mission also scanned the surface of Mars for volcanic activity, but none was evident. Photographs of Mars’ moons, Phobos and Diemos were also sent back to Earth.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Pioneer 10 Launch Date: Mar. 2, 1972 Jupiter encounter date: Dec. 3, 1973 End of Mission: Mar. 31, 1997 First spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt. Pioneer 10 gathered information about Jupiter and its moons. Pioneer 10 is now farther from Earth than any other man- made object. Even so, it will take it more than 2 million years to reach the next star!

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Pioneer 11 Launch Date: Apr. 5, 1973 Jupiter encounter date: Dec. 2, 1974 End of Mission: Sep. 30, 1995 First spacecraft to visit Jupiter and Saturn. Instruments on board Pioneer 11 measured the magnetic fields and solar wind on its journey. The mission of Pioneer 11 was to take up-close photographs of both planets.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Viking 1 and 2 Launch Date: Aug. 20, 1975 Arrival Date: Jun. 19, 1976 Landing Date: Jul. 20, 1976 End of mission: Nov. 13, 1982 (Lander)Aug. 17, 1980 (Orbiter) The Viking spacecraft were made up of two orbiters and two landing modules that separated after landing sites on Mars were determined. The landing modules tested the Martian soil to check for any evidence of life. No evidence was found. The soils tests revealed a high iron content which may explain the reddish color of Mars.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Voyager 2 Launch Date: Aug. 20, 1977 Jupiter encounter: Jul. 9, 1979 Status: Interstellar Mission in progress Voyager 2 took advantage of a rare planetary alignment to visit the four giant outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. This interplanetary trip is not likely to be repeated in our lifetimes. Voyager 2 also studied the moons of the outer planets. Jupiter’s moons presented many surprises! The mission found volcanic activity on Io, and the possibility of a frozen ocean on Europa and plate tectonic activity on Ganymede.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Voyager 1 Launch Date: Sep. 5, 1977 Jupiter encounter: Mar. 5, 1979 Status: Interstellar Mission in progress Voyager l and 2 were launched 16 days apart, but Voyager 1 reached Jupiter first. The mission captured an amazing “family portrait” of the outer planets in the solar system. Voyager 1 visited Jupiter and Saturn and discovered that Saturn’s rings are much more complicated than originally thought.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Space Shuttle Missions April 12, 1981-present The shuttle is the first reusable space vehicle. There have been more than 100 successful shuttle missions, and each has contributed to a better understanding of the scientific and engineering necessary to travel in space. On January 28, 1986, a leak caused the main liquid fuel tank of the Challenger to explode 73 seconds after launch, killing all 7 crew members. The shuttles were grounded for two years while NASA redesigned the fuel system. There are four shuttle orbiters in NASA's fleet: Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Magellan Magellan Launch Date: May. 4, 1989 Arrival Date: Aug. 10, 1990 End of mission: Oct. 12, 1994 Magellan was the first planetary spacecraft to be launched from a space shuttle. The mission of the Magellan spacecraft was to study Venus’ topography. Detailed maps of 98% of the planet's surface have been created. Volcanoes have affected 85% of Venus’ surface.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Ulysses Launch Date: Oct. 6, 1990 Jupiter Gravity Assist: Feb. 8, 1992 Solar Passes: Jun. - Nov. 1994; Sep Jan Ulysses is the first spacecraft designed to orbit and study the Sun. Ulysses was launched from a space shuttle, but no rockets exist that could push the probe fast enough to put into the right orbit around the Sun. To solve this problem, Ulysses made a trip around Jupiter to build up enough speed.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX NEAR Shoemaker (Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) Launch date: Feb. 17, 1996 Mathilde flyby: Jun. 27, 1997 Eros flyby: Dec. 23, 1999 Eros rendezvous: Feb Status: In progress NEAR Shoemaker is the first of a new type of probe. These Discovery Program spacecraft are small, low-cost planetary missions. NEAR Shoemaker is designed to orbit asteroids and determine their chemical composition. Asteroids are important to study due to their potential for collision with Earth, as well as for their similarities to the inner planets.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Mars Pathfinder Launch Date: Dec. 2, 1996 Arrival Date: Jul. 4, 1997 End of mission: Sep. 27, 1997 The Mars Pathfinder was the second Discovery Program mission. Pathfinder was a low-cost mission and used a unique design that included airbags. When the airbags deflated, the lander opened like the petals of a flower and the rover was able to roll around the surface and analyze rocks.

© 2006 Plano ISD, Plano, TX Deep Space 1 Launch date: October 24, 1998 Asteroid 9969 Braille Flyby: Jul. 29, 1999 Status: In progress Deep Space 1 is designed to study near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets. This probe is the first spacecraft of the New Millennium Program. This program’s primary mission is to try out new technologies for future missions. Some of the new technologies that Deep Space 1 is testing are solar electric engines, advanced microelectronics, and new navigational systems.