 |
 Luna
was the name of a series of lunar probes
launched by the Soviet Union between 1959
and 1976. They were the
first man-made objects to attain escape
velocity, to impact on the moon, to
photograph the "dark side" of
the Moon, to soft-land on the moon, to
retrieve lunar samples and return them to
Earth, and to deploy a rover on the
Moon's surface. |
|
 Pioneer 10
was the first spacecraft to travel
through the Asteroid Belt (1972), and the
first to make direct observations and
obtain close-up images of Jupiter. |
|
| |
 The
Ranger Program was the first
U.S. attempt to obtain close-up images of
the lunar surface. The spacecraft were
designed to fly straight down towards the
Moon and send images back until the
moment of impact. |
|
 The
Surveyor Program was the
first U.S. effort to make a soft landing
on the Moon. The craft tested landing
techniques designed to take American
astronauts safely to the Moon's surface,
and also scouted suitable locations for a
manned landing. |
|
| |
 The
Voyager Program consists of
two spacecraft launched in 1977 on a
mission to explore the outer planets.
Since their launch, the two craft have
visited all the giant planets of our
Solar System, as well as 48 of their
moons. More than 30 years after their
launch, they are now well out of the
Solar System, and still sending back
information. |
|
|
