Chapter 5 - Robotic Exploration of Space

One of the most impressive results of the Space Age has been the robotic exploration of the Solar
System. Tiny points of light have been transformed into worlds by detailed close range
observation. Astronomers use space telescopes to explore the whole universe more thoroughly
than ever before, and earth scientists have become planetary scientists, able to compare and
contrast a broader range of atmospheric and geological processes than ever before. A brief
summary is given here.

What can we see from Earth?

The unaided eye can see five planets move across the sky, as well as spots on the Moon. The
telescope, invented in 1609, revealed these objects to be worlds. But distance places limitations
on telescopic observation. Even the best telescopes today can only see fuzzy markings on
Mercury, Pluto and smaller worlds like the moons of the outer planets. Radar reflecting off other
worlds can reveal more than light in some cases. Even Mars, close enough to see clearly from
Earth, was not at all understood before spacecraft visited it. Close-up observations revolutionized
our understanding of other worlds, and continue to do so.
Hubble Space Telescope images of solar system targets
Planetary radar.

Flyby, orbit, landing, roving, sample return...

This is the typical sequence of spacecraft exploration of another world. The easiest mission - still
very difficult - is to fly past a planet, observing it during the flyby. Luna 3 (1959) flew past the
Moon and made the first images of its far side. Mariner 4 (1965) was the first successful Mars
flyby, returning 22 small images. The Voyager missions (1979-1989) involved two spacecraft
and flights past all four of the giant outer planets. The first Pluto flyby (New Horizons) is on its
way. Next, for detailed observations over a long period, an orbiting mission may be flown.
Mariner 9 was the first Mars orbiter (1971-1972). Right now the first Saturn orbiter, Cassini, is
sending back data. The first Mercury orbiter, Messenger, is on its way. Landing is the most
difficult type of mission to fly. Luna 9 (January 1966) was the first spacecraft to land on the
Moon, Mars 3 and then Viking 1 on Mars. We could extend this sequence to include rovers
(mobile vehicles). Lunokhod 1 was the first on the Moon, Sojourner on Mars. Another type of
mobility would be balloons (Vega 1 and 2 at Venus) or other aircraft. Finally, robotic sample
return missions bring back rock or soil to us for analysis. So far these have only flown to the
Moon (Luna 16, 20, 24) and a comet (Stardust). A Japanese asteroid sample return mission
(Hayabusa) has returned to Earth and may have collected a very small amount of asteroid dust.
The ultimate stage would be human exploration, which is so far limited to the Moon.
Planetary exploration chronology - browse it!!
Jet Propulsion Laboratory - home of most planetary missions
Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab - home of several recent missions

The Moon
The closest world to Earth, and the first target of solar system exploration. The Moon is covered
with craters, the scars of its formation out of millions of separate fragments. As each one hit to
build up the Moon, it made a crater. Some areas are covered with dark lava which flooded onto
the surface and filled depressions several billion years ago. Its exploration history doesn't follow
the flyby-orbit-landing sequence exactly. The first landings (Luna 9, Surveyor 1) came before
the first orbiters (Luna 10, Lunar Orbiter 1). The first phase of lunar exploration culminated with
the Apollo astronaut landings in 1969-1972, and the Soviet Union's rovers and sample return
missions. The Soviets focussed more on physical and compositional studies, and did not
undertake systematic mapping, for the Moon and other worlds. All recent missions have been
orbiters with surface composition and mapping instruments. We are now in a new international
phase of lunar exploration. Europe, Japan, China and India have all flown orbital mapping
missions in recent years, and all of them are now planning landers for the next few years. The
only currently active missions are NASA's Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter and China's Chang-e 2.
LCROSS recently hit the Moon, discovering water and other volatiles (methane, carbon dioxide
etc.) in a polar shaded area. More orbiters, rovers and sample returns are expected in the next
decade. Several recent attempts to fly private commercial lunar missions have been abandoned,
but now we have the Google Lunar X-Prize - $20 million for the first non-government rover to
be landed on the Moon. Will it trigger a new commercial space business?
Moon missions.
Moon missions.
Lunar Picture of the Day (LPOD).
Soviet Lunar images.
Soviet Lunar images.
Moon images.
ESA's SMART-1 lunar images.
Moon images from Kaguya.
Moon images from Chandrayaan.
Moon images from Apollo.
Moon images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
LROC image map - search for LROC images on a clickable map
LROC Wide Angle image gallery
LCROSS Moon impact mission.
USGS lunar data page.
Google Moon. (a much better version of this is available in Google Earth)
Google Lunar X-Prize.

Venus

Venus can come closer to us than any other world but its thick cloudy atmosphere hides its
surface completely. Before the space age we didn't know if its surface was an ocean, a desert or a
swampy forest. Flyby missions probed the atmosphere, orbiters mapped the surface, and landers
studied the surface. We have even flown balloons in the atmosphere (Soviet Union's Vega
missions), the only place in the solar system other than Earth where that has been done. NASA's
Magellan mission made the best orbital pictures, while the Soviet Union's Venera probes
(Veneras 9 10, 13, 14) provided the only surface photographs. Venus is a hostile desert with very
high atmospheric temperature and pressure. But why is Venus so different from Earth? This
comparison illustrates one of the ways planets teach us about our own world. The European
spacecraft Venus Express is currently orbiting the planet and a Japanese Venus orbiter will fly in
a few years. View Magellan and Venera images through the 'Venus missions' links.
Venus missions
Venus images
More Venus images
Venus Express

Mercury

Mercury is so close to the sun that, apart from being hot, it is hard to see (I have never seen it). It
is a cratered world like the Moon, but not exactly the same, with long winding cliffs (thrust
faults?) and fewer fractures than on the Moon. It has a fairly strong magnetic field, while the
Moon has almost lost its ancient field. Only 45% of it was seen in pictures from Mariner 10 in
1973-1974. Now a new mission, Messenger, is on its way to orbit Mercury. It has already made
three gravity-assist flybys of the planet and will go into orbit in 2011. Messenger images have
now covered almost all of the surface of Mercury, and have revealed evidence of volcanic
activity in and between the craters.
Mariner 10
Mariner 10 images
Messenger

Mars

Long a goal of dreamers, Mars stands alone as a potential habitat for future humans. Did it
support life? We don't know yet. Mars is a hybrid world, half moonlike, half earthlike. Its
southern hemisphere is mostly cratered like much of the Moon, its northern half is low-lying, flat
and might have held seas or a small ocean at one time. Mars has giant features, the biggest
volcanoes and canyons in the solar system. Its carbon dioxide polar caps shrink and grow with
the seasons as on Earth. But this cold desert planet with its thin atmosphere and very low
temperatures is still less hospitable than any inhabited place on Earth. Early flyby missions
(Mariners 4, 6, 7) were followed by orbiters (Mariner 9, Viking) and landers (Viking,
Pathfinder). We have excellent images of Mars from orbit, including the current Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Odyssey missions (see links) and from the surface including
the current rovers. Look for more high resolution orbital images in 2010-2011 and future landers
in 2012 and 2016.
Mars missions.
Mars exploration - current missions
Mars Global Surveyor images.
Mars Express images.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images.
1997 Mars Pathfinder mission
2004 Mars Exploration Rovers.
MER dust devil movies.
Mars surface panoramas by James Canvin.
2008 Phoenix mission.
2011 (launch) Phobos Sample Return mission.
Mars images from several missions.
Mars global datasets.

Asteroids

Asteroids are generally too small to observe in detail from Earth, but radar has shown details of
some and spacecraft have photographed others. Galileo, a Jupiter orbiter, flew past two asteroids
(Gaspra, Ida) to reveal their surfaces for the first time in 1991 and 1993. The NEAR (Near Earth
Asteroid Rendezvous) mission flew past Mathilde (1997) and then orbited asteroid Eros for a
year (2000-2001) before successfully landing on its surface. A Japanese sample return mission
(Hayabusa) studied an asteroid in 2005, landed briefly and tried to collect a sample of the surface
material. It is now on its way back to Earth, possibly carrying a small sample of the asteroid. The
Dawn spacecraft is now on its way to orbit two of the largest asteroids, Vesta and Ceres. Rosetta
(see Comets section) has looked at one asteroid, Steins, and will pass by another in 2010.
Stardust and Deep Space 1 both examined small asteroids on the way to other targets. Asteroids
are both a threat (they might hit us; if so I will be marketing an asteroid repellant), and a
potential benefit (they might provide resources for future space industries).
radar images
Galileo mission - asteroid Gaspra
Galileo mission - asteroid Ida
NEAR mission - asteroid Mathilde
NEAR mission - asteroid Eros
NEAR - Eros images
NEAR - Eros images
Hayabusa mission - asteroid Itokawa
Hayabusa images of Itokawa
Stardust mission - asteroid Annefrank
Deep Space 1 mission - asteroid Braille
Rosetta mission - asteroid Steins
Rosetta mission - asteroid Lutetia
Dawn mission - asteroids Ceres and Vesta

Comets

Comets are the least explored components of the solar system. The first comet missions were to
Comet Halley in 1986. Important data on composition and other characteristics were obtained,
but only low resolution images were taken. In 2001 Comet Borrelly was seen in more detail by
Deep Space 1, and in 2004 the Stardust mission collected dust from Comet Wild-2 and took the
best pictures to date. The dust samples were returned safely to Earth, the only material ever
brought back to Earth from any other world beyond the Moon. The Deep Impact mission gave a
detailed view of Comet Tempel-1 in July 2005, and used a heavy projectile to dig a crater in its
surface and study the resulting debris. The European Rosetta mission will orbit and land on a
comet nucleus in 2014.
Giotto images of Halley's comet
Deep Space 1 images of Comet Borrelly
Stardust images of Comet Wild-2
Deep Impact images of Comet Tempel-1
Deep Impact images of Comet Hartley
Rosetta mission to Comet 67 P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko

Jupiter

Jupiter is far away from Earth in the remote outer solar system. The Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft
first tested the route through the asteroid belt and survived the radiation belts of Jupiter, in 1973
and 1974. The spectacular Voyager missions flew past Jupiter in 1979 as the first step in their
epic reconnaissance of the outer solar system, surely the greatest voyage of exploration ever
undertaken. The two Voyagers discovered a thin ring about Jupiter and active volcanoes on Io,
one of its four big moons. These discoveries were followed up by the Galileo mission from 1995
to 2003, which orbited the planet and dropped a probe into its atmosphere. Galileo made very
close observations of the big moons. Future missions will explore the moon Europa, which may
have an ocean under its icy surface. On December 30, 2000 Cassini flew past Jupiter on its way
to Saturn and took new images. On February 28 2007 the New Horizons spacecraft flew past
Jupiter and made important observations on its way to Pluto. These flyby opportunities and
ongoing ground-based studies allow us to monitor the constant volcanic activity on Io, and
atmospheric activity and even asteroid or comet impacts on Jupiter itself.
Pioneer missions to Jupiter.
Voyager
Jupiter images including some from Voyager
Jupiter images from Galileo
Impact on Jupiter
Another impact on Jupiter
Jupiter images from Cassini
New Horizons at Jupiter

Saturn

Saturn is in the news again after a 20 year hiatus between spacecraft visitors. Planetary scientists
have to learn patience... The first visitor was Pioneer 11, which flew past Jupiter in 1974 and
arrived at Saturn in 1979 to pave the way for Voyager. The two Voyager spacecraft flew past
Saturn in 1980 and 1981, providing the first detailed studies of the planet and its many moons
and vast rings. Now we are lucky to be able to watch, as it happens, the first orbital mission:
Cassini arrived at Saturn in July 2004 and is now exploring this complex system. Check Cassini
news every week. In January 2005 Cassini's probe 'Huygens' dropped into the thick atmosphere
of Saturn's big moon Titan, returning spectacular images of muddy plains and channels in hilly
areas nearby.
Pioneer 11 images of Saturn.
Voyager at Saturn
Cassini - latest news
Huygens on Titan
Huygens on Titan
Radar images of Titan

Uranus

Uranus was the first planet to be discovered (in 1781), all those closer to the sun having been
known since ancient times. It has only been visited once by a spacecraft, Voyager 2, in 1986. It is
a world with thin dark rings and geologically interesting moons, tilted on its side compared with
its orbit and most other planets. There are no specific plans for a return visit, but discussions are
now taking place.
Discovery of Uranus.
Voyager 2 at Uranus.

Neptune

Neptune was discovered in 1846. In 1989 the planet and its rings and moons were briefly visited
by Voyager 2. Most of what we know of the planet comes from this one flyby. Neptune's large
moon Triton has a thin atmosphere and active geyser-like eruptions. There are no current plans to
return for a closer look, but possible missions are being designed.
Discovery of Neptune
Voyager 2 at Neptune

Pluto

Pluto was only found in 1930. It is a small icy world similar to many outer planet moons, and
people often debate whether it is big enough to be considered a planet at all. In 2006 it was
officially reclassified as a 'dwarf planet'. Today it is regarded as one of the largest members of
the Kuiper Belt, an icy asteroid-like belt beyond Neptune. A spacecraft (New Horizons) is now
on its way to fly past Pluto, its large moon Charon and two newly-discovered moons, and then
go on to visit one of the other Kuiper-belt objects.
Pluto summary
'New Horizons' Pluto mission

Space Telescopes

Much important space exploration work is done by telescopes in orbit, where they are not
affected by Earth's atmosphere. The best known is the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble,
launched in 1990 on the Space Shuttle, must be serviced by the Shuttle. One more servicing
mission is scheduled in 2009. A replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope, is being
designed.
Space Telescope Science Institute.
Hubble Space Telescope images of solar system targets