Overview

This essay from Chapter 2 of our documentary history, "Exploring the Unknown, Volume 5, Exploring the Cosmos" covers the history of NASA planetary exploration planning:

• NASA and Planetary Exploration by Amy Paige Snyder.

Chronologies

• A Chronology of Mars Exploration This chronology covers both successful and unsuccessful, past and planned, U.S. and Russian/Soviet probes over the years.
• Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration, 1957-present
• Our monograph no. 24 by Asif A. Siddiqi: Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000. contains brief descriptions of all robotic deep space missions attempted since the opening of the space age in 1957. The missions are listed strictly chronologically in order of launch date (not by planetary encounter).

Probes

• Mariner : Series of planetary spacecraft flown between 1962 and 1975.
• For a history of Mariner 10, click on this link: The Voyage of Mariner 10: Mission to Venus and Mercury.
  (NASA SP-424, 1978) by James A. Dunne and Eric Burgess.
• Pioneer 10 : Jupiter flyby, 1972-1973, continued outside the Solar System thereafter.
• Pioneer 11 : Jupiter and Saturn flyby, 1973-1979, continued outside the Solar System thereafter.
• The Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 missions to Jupiter are chronicled in: Pioneer Odyssey
  (NASA SP-349/396, revised edition, 1977) by Richard Fimmel, William Swindell, and Eric Burgess.
• Viking 1 and 2 : Mars landers and orbiters, 1975-1983.
• Our history of Mars exploration: On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958-1978,
  NASA SP-4212, 1984, culminates with the Viking missions.
• Pioneer Venus 1 and 2 :Venus probes, 1978, mapped the planet's surface, imaged its cloud systems, and explored its magnetic environment.
• Voyager 1 and 2 : Grand Tour of the outer Solar System that imaged Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, launched in 1977 and it is still traveling outward. Also check out the NSSDC's Voyager information .
• Magellan : Venus probe that made the most highly detailed maps of the planet using sophisticated imaging radar, 1989-1994.
• See also: Magellan: The Unveiling of Venus (JPL-400-345, 1989).
• Galileo : Mapping mission to Jupiter, also imaged Moon and asteroids, 1989-present.
• See also our history of the Galileo Project by Michael Meltzer:
  Mission to Jupiter: A History of the Galileo Project. NASA SP-2007-4231.
• Cassini-Huygens : A joint NASA, ESA, and ASI mission that will orbit Saturn and land a probe on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
• Also read SP-533: Passage to a Ringed World: The Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan.
• Explorer : A listing of varied missions carrying the designation Explorer, conducted between 1958 and the early 1980s.

Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
For further information email histinfo@hq.nasa.gov