50 years of planetary exploration
| Russia | U.S. | Europe | Rest of the world |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957-1961 | |||
| Jan. 1959 -Luna 1 moon probe enters solar orbit
Sep. 1959 - Luna 2 crashes on the Moon, 1st manufactured object to reach another celestial body Oct. 1959 - Luna 3 beams back the 1st picture of the far side of the Moon's farside |
March 1959 - Pioneer 4 probe misses the Moon and enters solar orbit | ||
| 1962-1966 | |||
| Feb. 1966 - Luna 9. 1st soft landing on the Moon
Apr. 1966 - Luna 10. 1st lunar orbiter |
Dec. 1962 - 1st Venus flyby by Mariner 2
Jul. 1964 - Ranger 7 sends lunar close-up pictures before voluntarily crashing Jul. 1965 - 1st Mars flyby by Mariner 4 June 1966 - Surveyor 1 soft lands on the Moon Aug. 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 circles the Moon |
||
| 1967-1971 | |||
| Jan. 1967 - 62 countries sign the Outer Space Treaty which specifies that the Moon and other celestial bodies belong to the whole humankind | |||
| Oct. 1967 - Venera 4 enters the atmosphere of Venus
Sep. 1970 - Luna 16 sample return from the Moon Nov.1970 - Lunokhod 1 rover on the Moon Dec. 1970 - Venera 7, 1st landing on Venus Dec. 1971 - Mars 3, 1st Mars landing, no data returned |
Dec. 1968 - Apollo 8, 1st manned Moon orbiter
July 1969 - Apollo 11, 1st manned Moon landing Nov. 1971 - Mariner 9, 1st orbiter of Mars |
Nov.1970 - French laser retroreflectors on Soviet Lunokhod 1 moon rover | |
| 1972-1976 | |||
| Jan. 1973 - Lunokhod 2 rover on the Moon
Aug. 1976 - Luna 24, sample return and last Soviet mission to the Moon |
Dec. 1972 - Apollo 17, 6th and last manned Moon landing to date
Dec. 1973 - 1st flyby of Jupiter by Pioneer 10 March 1974 - 1st flyby of Mercury by Mariner 10 July/Sep. 1976 - Viking 1 and 2, 1st successful Mars landings |
Jan.1973 - French laser retroreflectors on Soviet Lunokhod 2 moon rover
Dec. 1974 - Germany's Helios 1 is Europe's 1st deep space probe |
|
| 1977-1981 | |||
| August/Sep. 1977 - NASA launches Voyager 1 and 2
March/July 1979 - Voyager 1 and 2 fly by Jupiter Sep. 1979 - 1st flyby of Saturn by Pioneer 11 Nov. 1980 - Voyager 1 flies by Saturn. 1st flyby of Titan August 1981 - Voyager 2 flies by Saturn |
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| 1982-1986 | |||
| Oct. 1983 - 1st radar mapping of Venus by Venera 15 and 16 orbiters
March 1986 - Flyby of Halley comet's nucleus by Vega 1 and 2 probes |
Jan. 1986 - 1st flyby of Uranus by Voyager 2 | June 1985 - French balloons deployed in Venus atmosphere by Soviet Vega 1 and 2 probes
March 1986 - Close flyby of Halley comet's nucleus by ESA's Giotto probe |
Mach. 1986 - Japan's Suisei and sakigake probes approach Halley comet |
| 1987-1991 | |||
| March 1989 - Loss of the Fobos 2 Mars orbiter while approaching Phobos | August 1989 - 1st flyby of Uranus by Voyager 2
August 1990 - Radar mapping of Venus by Magellan orbiter Oct. 1991 - 1st flyby of an asteroid, Gaspra, by Galileo |
1988-89 - Major French contribution to Soviet Fobos probes
1989-95 - European contribution to NASA's Galileo probe Oct. 1990 - Ulysses probe sent to the poles of the Sun |
Jan. 1990 - Hiten, Japan's 1st moon orbiter |
| 1992-1996 | |||
| Nov. 1996 - Loss of Mars 96 in launch failure | Dec. 1995 - Galileo, 1st orbiter and 1st atmospheric probe of Jupiter | Feb. 1992 - Flyby of Jupiter by ESA's Ulysses probe
July 1992 - Flyby of Grigg-Skjellerup comet's nucleus by ESA's Giotto probe Jan. 1994 - French contribution to U.S. Clementine moon orbiter Nov. 1996 - Major European contribution to Mars 96 |
|
| 1997-2001 | |||
| July 1997 - Mars Pathfinder. 1st rover on Mars
Oct. 1997 - Launch of Cassini-Huygens Jan. 1998 - Lunar Prospector detects ice on the Moon |
Oct. 1997 - Launch of Cassini-Huygens, a joint ESA/NASA mission | ||
| 2001-2006 | |||
| Feb. 2000 - NEAR Shoemaker 1st orbiter of an asteroid, Eros
July 2004 - Cassini-Huygens 1st orbiter of Saturn July 2005 - Deep Impact crashes impactor on comet Tempel 1's nucleus Jan. 2006 - New Horizon probe launched toward Pluto Jan. 2006 - Stardust brings back samples from comet Wild 2's coma |
Dec. 2003 - Mars Express enters orbit around Mars
March 2004 - Launch of Rosetta, ESA's comet-chaser July 2004 - Cassini-Huygens 1st orbiter of Saturn Nov. 2004 - SMART-1 enters orbit around the Moon Jan. 2005 - Huygens, 1st landing on Titan April 2006 - Venus Express enters orbit around Venus |
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| 2007 | |||
| Feb. 2007 - Rosetta's flyby of Mars | May 2007 - Chang'e 1, China's 1st moon orbiter | ||
Last update: 14 July 2009
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