Apollo 11, the first spacecraft to take a man to the Moon, consisted of a lunar module and a command module. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon while Michael Collins orbited around it. Apollo 11 brought back celestial samples, advancing our scientific understanding of the Moon.
Curiosity, a rover launched by NASA in 2011, landed on Mars in 2012. Equipped with advanced scientific instruments, its mission includes studying Mars' past habitability, water availability, climate, and geology. Curiosity has exceeded its initial 2-year mission and continues to explore Mars to this day.
The Venera probes, launched by the Russian space agency, successfully landed on Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system. These probes made significant achievements such as entering the planet's atmosphere, making soft landings, capturing pictures, recording sounds, and performing radar mapping scans.
NASA's Viking probe 1 was the first human-made device to land on Mars. Launched in 1975, Viking sent the first color picture of the Martian surface. It consisted of a lander and an orbiter, equipped with advanced scientific equipment for imaging, mapping, and thermal analysis.
The Cassini-Huygens probe, a joint mission by NASA and ESA, reached Saturn in 2004 after flying by Jupiter. Cassini orbited Saturn, capturing stunning images of its rings, moons, and atmosphere. Huygens separated and landed on Saturn's moon, Titan, providing valuable data about its surface.
Launched in 2016, New Horizons embarked on a flyby mission to Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. It also studied Jupiter and its moons during its journey. New Horizons provided valuable insights into the distant Pluto and its surrounding environment.
NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) measured temperature differences across the cosmic microwave background, providing crucial information about cosmology. Launched in 2001, WMAP played a key role in our current understanding of the universe.
The Voyager mission's primary goal was to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus. Voyager probes have been operational for over 44 years and continue to study the edge of the solar system, venturing into interstellar space. They have provided remarkable data about our outer planets.
NASA's Pioneer mission aimed to learn about the outer reaches of the solar system. Pioneer 10 and 11 were equipped with advanced technical instruments, including charged particle sensors and ultraviolet photometers, making them scientifically groundbreaking spacecraft at the time of launch.
Mangalyaan, India's first interplanetary mission, entered the Martian orbit in 2014. Launched in 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organization, Mangalyaan is orbiting Mars and has been a cost-effective Mars mission. It carries advanced scientific equipment for studying the red planet.