Planetary Missions

Note: Launches of Soviet spacecraft occurred from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Tyuratam, USSR, unless noted.
Launches of US spacecraft occurred from Cape Canaveral, FL, unless noted.

Sputnik USSR – Oct 4, 1957 – first satellite
Launched 19.28.34 GMT
Korabl 4 USSR – Oct 10, 1960 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Failed in Earth orbit
Korabl 5 USSR – Oct 14, 1960 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Failed in Earth orbit
Mariner 2 USA – Aug 27, 1962 – Venus Flyby
Launched at 6:53:13 UT
passed Venus at a distance of 41,000 km on December 14, 1962.
Korabl 11 USSR – Oct 24, 1962 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Failed to leave Earth orbit
Mars 1 USSR – Nov 1, 1962 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Lost communications Mar. 21, 1963
Korabl 13 USSR – Nov 4, 1962 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Failed in Earth orbit, reentered Nov. 5, 1962.
Mariner 3 USA – Nov 5, 1964 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Launch failure, entered solar orbit
Mariner 4 USA – Nov 26, 1964 – Mars Flyby
Launched at 14:42 UT
Reached Mars on July 14, 1965, and returned 21 complete pictures. Closest approach was 9,846 km from the Martian surface. Lost signal acquisition October 1965. Data acquisition resumed in late 1966 and continued until December 20, 1967.
Zond 2 USSR – Nov 30, 1964 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Lost communications May 1965
Zond 3 USSR – Jul 18, 1965 – Mars Flyby
Photographed Moon, reached Mars orbit
Venera 4 USSR – Jun 12, 1967 – Venus Atmospheric Probe
Mariner 5 USA – Jun 14, 1967 – Venus Flyby
Launched at 06:01:00 UT
It was the backup spacecraft for the Mariner 4 mission and then it was programmed for Venus. It passed within 4,000 km on October 19, 1967.
Venera 5 USSR – Jan 5, 1969 – Venus Atmospheric Probe
Venera 6 USSR – Jan 10, 1969 – Venus Atmospheric Probe
Mariner 6 USA – Feb 24, 1969 – Mars Flyby
Launched at 01:29:00 UT
Used exclusively for planetary data acquisition; no data were obtained during the trip to Mars or beyond Mars. Mariner 6 passed within 3,431 km on July 31, 1969. Data from it were used to program
Mariner 7.
Mariner 7 USA – Mar 27, 1969 – Mars Flyby
Launched at 22:22:00 UT
Identical in construction to Mariner 6, it also was used to gather planetary data exclusively. It passed 3,430 km from Mars on August 5, 1969.
(None Given) USSR – Mar 27, 1969 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Believed to have been a launch failure.
(None Given) USA – Apr 14, 1969 – Mars Flyby (aborted)
Venera 7 USSR – Aug 17, 1970 – Venus Atmospheric Probe
Mariner 8 USA – May 8, 1971 – Mars Orbiter (aborted)
Failed to reach orbit
Kosmos 419 USSR – May 10, 1971 – Mars Orbiter (aborted)
Failed to leave Earth orbit; reentered the atmosphere and burned up.
Mars 2 USSR – May 19, 1971 – Mars Landing (aborted)
Orbited Mars; descent module crashed Nov. 27
Mars 3 USSR – May 28, 1971 – Mars Landing (aborted)
Orbited Mars; descent module failed upon landing Dec. 2
Mariner 9 USA – May 30, 1971 – Mars Orbiter & Atmospheric Probe
Originally paired for this mission with Mariner 8, which failed, Mariner
9 combined mission objectives of both Mariner 8 (mapping 70 % of the
Martian surface) and Mariner 9 (a study of temporal atmospheric changes
and on the surface). It arrived at Mars on November 14, 1971. After
depleting its supply of attitude control gas, the spacecraft was turned off
October 27, 1972.
Pioneer 10 USA – Mar 3, 1972 – Jupiter Flyby
Launched at 1:49:00 UT
Pioneer 11 USA – Apr 6, 1973 – Jupiter & Saturn Flyby
Launched at 2:11:00 UT
Mars 4 USSR – Jul 21, 1973 – Mars Landing (aborted)
Failed to orbit, flew by Feb. 10
Mars 5 USSR – Jul 25, 1973 – Mars Landing (partially aborted)
Entered orbit of Mars Feb. 12, 1974; partially successful.
Mars 6 USSR – Aug 5, 1973 – Mars Landing (aborted)
Descent module communications failure just before landing Mar. 12
Mars 7 USSR – Aug 9, 1973 – Mars Landing (aborted)
Failed to land; flew by Mar. 9, 1974.
Mariner 10 USA – Nov 3, 1973 – Venus & Mercury Probe
Launched at 05:45:00 UT
Mariner 10 was the first to use the gravitational pull of one planet (Venus) to reach another (Mercury). Instruments measured the atmospheric, surface, and physical characteristics of Mercury and Venus. The spacecraft passed Venus on February 5, 1974, at a distance of 4200 km. It crossed the orbit of Mercury on March 29, 1974, at 20:46 UT, at a distance of about 704 km from the surface. The craft captured data from comet Kohoutek while enroute to Venus. A second encounter with Mercury occurred September 21, 1974, at an altitude of about 47,000 km. A final Mercury encounter at an altitude of 327 km. Tests were continued until March 24, 1975, when mission termination followed the depletion of attitude-control gas.
Venera 9 USSR – Jun 8, 1975 – Venus Lander
Landing occurred on Oct 22, 1975 at 5:13 UT.
Viking 1 USA – Aug 20, 1975 – Mars surface studies
Viking 1 arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. On July 20, 1976, it landed at
Chryse Planitia (22.27 N, 49.97 W, 2 km below the datum elevation).
Viking 2 USA – Sep 9, 1975 – Mars surface studies
Viking 2 entered Mars orbit on August 7, 1976, and touched down at Utopia
Planitia (47.57 N, 225.74 W) on September 3, 1976.
Voyager 2 USA – Aug 20, 1977 – multi-planet flyby
Actually part of the Mariner series, these two Voyagers were designed to visit
Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 was programmed so that to could be directed toward
Uranus and Neptune to perform similar studies. Arrived at Jupiter July 1979.
Arrived at Saturn Aug 1981.
Voyager 1 USA – Sep 5, 1977 – multi-planet flyby
Although launched after Voyager 2, Voyager 1’s trajectory was faster, allowing
it to arrive at Jupiter in March 1979. Arrived at Saturn Nov. 1980. Then diverted
to Uranus (January 1986) and Neptune (August 1989).
Pioneer Orbiter USA – May 20, 1978 – Venus orbiter
Orbit established December 4, 1978.
Pioneer Multiprobe USA – Aug 8, 1978 – Venus atmospheric probe
Containing one large and three small atmospheric probes, the large probe was
released on November 16, 1978 and the three small probes on November 20. All
four probes entered the Venus atmosphere on December 9.
Suisei JAP – Mar 18, 1985 – Comet Halley Flyby
Flyby occurred Mar 8, 1986
Giotto ESA – Jul 2, 1985 – Comet Halley Flyby
Flyby occurred Mar 13, 1986
Phobos 1 USSR – Aug 5, 1988 – Mars Lander (aborted)
Lost contact Aug. 31
Phobos 2 USSR – Aug 9, 1988 – Mars Lander (aborted)
Orbited Mars 1989 Jan. 29; lost contact Mar. 27, 1989.
Magellan USA – May 4, 1989 – Venus Flyby
10 Aug 1990 – Venus orbit insertion and spacecraft checkout
24 May 1993 – Aerobraking to circular orbit
12 Oct 1994 – Loss of radio signal
13 Oct 1994 – Expected loss of spacecraft
Galileo USA – Oct 18, 1989 – Jupiter Flyby
Launched at 23:23:40 UT from Atlantis Shuttle.
The primary mission is to explore Jupiter and its satellites. In order to
conserve fuel, a series of planetary flybys has taken place in order to
give Galileo a gravity assist to Jupiter. Venus: 10 Feb 1990, Earth/Moon 1:
8 Dec 1990, Gaspra: 29 Oct 1991, Earth/Moon 2: 8 Dec 1992, Ida: 28 Aug
1993. Jupiter arrival: 7 Dec 1995. 1st flyby of the Jovian Moon Callisto,
occurred on 04 Nov 1996. At 13:34 UTC, Galileo’s closest approach was about
1098 km from the surface of Callisto.
Ulysses USA – Oct 6, 1990 – Solar systems astrophysics
Launched at 11:47:16 UT from Space Shuttle Discovery
It is investigating the properties of the solar wind and the interplanetary
magnetic field, of galactic cosmic rays and neutral interstellar gas.
Yohkoh JAP – Aug 30, 1991 – Solar flare activity
Mars Observer USA – Sep 15, 1993 – Mars surface studies (aborted)
Launched at 17:05:01 UT
Contact with Mars Observer was lost on August 21, 1993, three days before
scheduled orbit insertion, for unknown reasons. Contact has not been
re-established.
ISO ESA – Nov 17, 1995 – Infrared Space Observatory
Launched at 01:20:04
SOHO ESA – Dec 12, 1995 – Solar probe
Launched from Cape Canaveral, FL
Cluster ESA – Jun 4, 1996 – Earth-Sun interactions (aborted)
Launched at 12:33:59 GMT from Guina Space Center, Kourou, French Guiana.
Guidance failure 37 sec after lift-off: possibly an electrical or software error.
Global Surveyor USA – Nov 7, 1996 – Mars surface studies
Launched at 17:00:50 UT
The spacecraft will arrive at Mars around September, 1997. Aerobraking and thrusters
will produce a nearly circular 2 hour polar orbit. Mapping operations will
begin in January, 1998. Data will be acquired for one Martian year (approx. 2
Earth years). It will be used as a data relay for later U.S. and international
missions over the following three years.
Mars-96 RUS – Nov 16, 1996 – Mars orbiter (abort)
Launched 20:48 GMT from Baikonur Space Center, Yevpatoriya, Kazakstan.
Crashed into Pacific Ocean on Nov 17, 1996 at approximately 1:19 pm GMT.
Location: East of Australia. Probable booster rocket failure.
Mars Pathfinder USA – Dec 4, 1996 – Mars lander
Launched at 1:58:07 EST.
The primary advance in this mission involves the use of a mobile rover
to explore surface terrain.
Cassini USA+ – Oct 15, 1997 – Saturn explorer
launched at 4:43 am EDT. Launch complex 40.
This multinational project has been most infamous for the controversy
over launching such a large quantity of plutonium. It has an extremely
complex trajectory which will take it through much of the Solar System before reaching Saturn.
Nozomi JAP – Jul 3, 1998 – Mars orbiter
launched 18:12 UT. Kagoshima Space Center on the island of Kyushu.
Japan’s first Mars mission. Arrival planned for October 1999. Nozomi
is scheduled to study Mars’ atmosphere, charged particles, and magnetic
field.
Deep Space 1 USA – Oct 24, 1998 – Asteroid flyby
launched 8:08 am EDT. Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.
Scheduled fly by asteroid 1992 KD in July 1999.
The xenon ion engine shut down 4-1/2 minutes after startup on Tuesday,
Nov. 10, 1998 at 2:30 p.m. EST. Unless this is corrected, the flyby cannot occur.

Mars Climate Orbiter US – Dec 11, 1998 – Mars orbiter
launched 13:45:51 EST. Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.
Scheduled to reach Mars in September 1999. Will map martian climate, and
serve as a relay station for the Mars Polar Lander.
A braking rocket was fired on Sep 23, 1999 at 5:01 am EDT during a period
of communication blackout, and the Orbiter did not check in 20 minutes
later at the end of the blackout period. Cause unknown; trajectory of MCO
unknown, although it it thought that it did not crash into the Martian
surface. The bracking rocket was programmed to fire because the craft had
gotten off-course, for unknown reasons.

Mars Polar Lander US – Jan 3, 1999 – Mars lander
launched 15:21:10 EST. Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.
Lost on descent to Martian surface on 3 December 1999. Flight controllers at the
JPL estimate that the lander reached the Martian surface at 76.1 degrees South,
195.3 deg. West at 3:01 p.m. EST. Its subsequent fate is unknown.

Stardust US – Feb 7, 1999 – Comet sampler
launched 16:04:15 EST. Pad 17A
Scheduled to bring back cometary dust sample.

Quick Scatterometer US – Jun 19, 1999 – radar over Earth
launched 7:15 pm PDT. Launch Complex 4 West, Vandenberg

Mars Odyssey US – Apr 7, 2001 – Mars mapping
launched 11:02 EDT. Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.

Galaxy Evolution Explorer US – Apr 28, 2003 – orbiting space telescope
launched approx. 9 am EDT. Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.
experienced excessive high-voltage current draw on March 30, 2006.

Mars Express ESA – Jun 2, 2003 – Mars orbiter & lander
launched 17:45 UT from Baikonur, Kazakhstan
entered orbit 25 December 2003
Beagle orbiter lost after release from orbiter

Deep Impact US – Jan 12, 2005 – comet flyby and impact
launched 1:47:08 pm EST Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
Released impactor July 4, 2005 at 1:52 am EDT.
Found water on Comet Tempel 1.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter US – Aug 12, 2005 – telescope to Mars
launched 7:43 am EDT Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Venus Express ESA – Nov 9, 2005 – Venus orbiter
launched 3:33 am UT Baikonur, Kazakhstan
reached final orbit May 7, 2006

New Horizons US – Jan 19, 2006 – Pluto mission
launched 2:00:00 pm EST Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.