| LAUNCH DATE |
NAME |
DESTINATION |
COUNTRY |
MISSION DETAILS |
ADDITIONAL
INFO |
CURRENT STATUS |
| 8th June 1975 |
Venera 9
(Venus 9) |
Venus |
USSR
 |
Soviet lander.
Landed on the surface of Venus on 22nd October and sent back the first
images of the planet's surface. The probe operated for 53 minutes after
landing on Venus. |
First space craft to
send back images of another planet's surface. |
The inactive Venera
9 probe now rests on the surface of Venus at coordinates 31.01° N, 291.64°
E |
| 14th June 1975 |
Venera 10
(Venus 10) |
Venus |
USSR
|
Twin probe of Venera
9, also sent back images of Venus' surface after landing there on 25th
October 1975. Operated for 65 minutes after landing. |
Second space probe
to send back images from another planet. |
The inactive Venera
10 probe now rests on the surface of Venus at coordinates 15.42° N,
291.51° E |
| 17th July 1975 |
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Apollo 18/Soyuz 19) |
Earth |
USA
& USSR
|
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint
American/Soviet space mission. Referred to as a test project, it was used
to test whether American and Soviet technology could work together in
preparation for a future joint space station mission. The mission involved
the American Apollo spacecraft docking with the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.
The two crafts were linked together for 44 hours. The mission had
political significance as it symbolised the easing of relations between
the two opposite superpowers. |
First American-Soviet co-mission. Final flight of the Apollo
spacecraft (sometimes referred to as Apollo 18). Final manned space flight
until the launch of the Space Shuttle in 1981. |
The Soyuz craft returned to Earth on 21st July 1975. The
Apollo craft returned on 24th July 1975. |
| 20th August 1975 |
Viking 1 |
Mars |
USA
|
Hugely successful
mission to explore Mars both from a distance with the Viking 1 orbiter,
and from the planet's surface with its lander. The orbiter entered Mars
orbit on 19th June 1976 and the lander safely landed on the planet's
surface on 20th July. The orbiter's primary mission was completed on 5th
November 1976 and entered an extended mission from 14th December,
including making a close approach to Phobos. Its orbit was lifted on 7th
August 1980 to prevent it from landing on Mars and operations ended on
17th August 1980. It will remain in this orbit until 2019. The Viking 1
lander began transmitting images from Mars' surface only 25 seconds after
landing and over the next few years continued to send panoramic views of
the planet's surface giving people on Earth the first view of what it
might look like to be on another planet. Communications continued until
13th November 1982 when an incorrect signal from Earth which was meant to
send battery charging software to the lander accidentally overwrote other
data which changed the antenna position and ended transmissions! |
Viking 1 sent back the first images from Mars'
surface. |
The orbiter will remain inactive but in its
current orbit until 2019. The lander lies inactive at its landing spot in
Chryse Planitia (Gold Field) at coordinates 22.697° N latitude and 48.222°
W |
| 9th September 1975 |
Viking 2 |
Mars |
USA
|
Twin mission of Viking 1 also utilised an
orbiter and lander. Viking 2 entered Mars orbit on 7th August 1976, with
its lander safely reaching the surface on 3rd September 1976. The
orbiter's primary mission ended on 8th November 1976 and entered extended
mission phase from 14th December, one of its missions being to approach
Deimos. It completed 706 orbits of Mars and was turned off on
25th July 1978. The lander reached the surface on 3rd September 1976 and
started taking pictures almost immediately. It operated until 11th April
1980 when it was switched off after the batteries ran down. |
Viking 2 sent back the first images of
"weather" on a different planet, when early morning frost could
be seen in the lander's surrounding area. |
Viking 2's orbiter is still in orbit around Mars
but inactive. Its lander is inactive at its landing spot in Utopia
Planitia at coordinates 48.269 ºN 225.990º W |
| 15th January 1976 |
Helios 2 |
Sun |
USA and (West) Germany
|
Almost identical to Helios 1, Helios 2 was a cooperative
mission between Germany and the USA. Built by Germany and launched by
NASA, the craft entered an elliptical orbit of the Sun, orbiting as far
away as Earth to closer than Mercury's orbit. |
. |
Helios 2's mission ended in April 1976 but remains in solar
orbit. |
| 9th August 1976 |
Luna 24 |
Moon |
USSR
|
Final mission of the Soviet Union's Luna series.
Luna 24 was a sample return mission. It landed on the surface of the Moon
on 18th August 1976 and took images and collected samples of Moon rock and
soil. It was launched from the Moon on 19th August 1976 and returned to
Earth on 22nd August 1976. |
Final mission of the Luna program. Final Soviet
or Russian mission to the Moon. Final mission to complete a soft landing
on the Moon. Final mission to return a sample of the Moon's soil to Earth. |
Luna 24's lower landing stage remains on the
Moon at coordinates 12° 45' north, 62° 12' east. The rest of Luna 24
returned to Earth on 22nd August 1976 landing in western Siberia. A small
amount of the 200g of the lunar soil retrieved were shared with NASA. |
| 5th September 1977 |
Voyager 1 |
Jupiter and Saturn |
USA
|
The Voyager Mission was an extremely successful
mission to explore the Gas Giants and the outer Solar System. Voyager 1
reached Jupiter in January 1979 and imaged the planet and its moons,
witnessing active volcanoes on the moon Io, the first sign of geological
activity anywhere in the Solar System other than on Earth. After leaving
Jupiter in April 1979, it went on to Saturn, imaging the planet and its
rings. After Pioneer 11's discovered atmosphere on Saturn's moon, Titan,
scientists sent Voyager 1 there instead of onto Uranus and Neptune,
leaving those planets for Voyager 2. After a flyby of Titan, Voyager 1 was
sent in a different direction to Uranus and Neptune and on its way out of
the Solar System. it is now the most distant manmade object in space and
is still transmitting data. The Sun still has an influence at Voyager 1's
current location (the Solar Wind can still be detected) but Voyager 1 and
2 may reach a point where the Sun has no influence, therefore placing them
in interstellar space and becoming the first manmade objects to leave the
Solar System. |
Both Voyager probes contain "Golden
Records" containing images, sounds and messages from Earth. Other
than the 115 images, the records contain greetings in 55 languages, some
which haven't been spoken on Earth for 6000 years, a message from
President Carter, animal noises and music from all over the world, ranging
from traditional to classical and rock and roll. And to play the record,
you need a gramophone! |
Voyager 1 is still operational, on its way out
of the Solar System. Data is sent back to Earth about the outer edges of
the Solar System and, although several instruments will shut down over the
coming years, it is expected that certain instruments will remain
operational until 2020. |
| 20th August 1977 |
Voyager 2 |
Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune |
USA
|
Twin mission of Voyager 1, and the first space
craft to visit four planets in one mission. Voyager 2 completed its flyby
of Jupiter in 1979 and went on to visit Saturn in 1981. Unlike Voyager 1,
which began its journey out of the Solar System after visiting Saturn,
Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune, being the first space craft
to reach these two planets. It arrived at Uranus in 1986, discovering 10
moons orbiting the planet. It then went on to visit Neptune in 1989. After
leaving Neptune, Voyager 2 began its interspace mission, making its way
out of the Solar System and eventually into interstellar space. It isn't
as far away as Voyager 1 and is moving at a slower speed but, like Voyager
1, is still transmitting data from the outer edges of the Solar System. |
First and only
mission to visit all four of the Gas Giants. |
Voyager 2 is still
operational and on its way out of the Solar System and into-interstellar
space. It is expected to remain operational until 2020, making it the
longest-lasting mission. |
| 20th May 1978 |
Pioneer 12
(Pioneer Venus Orbiter) |
Venus |
USA
|
Venus orbiter. It
reached the planet on 4th December 1978, conducting experiments to examine
Venus' atmosphere, its surface through radar imaging, its magnetic field
and gravity field. Images of Venus were sent from Pioneer 12 while in
orbit. Pioneer 12
also observed comets while in orbit around Venus between 1984 and 1987 and
was reactivated in 1991 while orbiting Venus' southern hemisphere to find
out more information. The mission ended in May 1992. |
Longest running
Venus mission, starting from 1978 and ending in 1992. |
Pioneer 12 ran out
of fuel in May 1992 and descended into Venus' atmosphere, burning up as it
did so. |
| 8th August 1978 |
Pioneer 13
(Pioneer Venus Multiprobe) |
Venus |
USA
|
A space craft which
launched four probes (one large and three small) into the atmosphere of Venus
to send back information. The "bus" carrying the four space probes
was also sent into the
planet's atmosphere. All probes and the bus entered the atmosphere on 9th December
1978. They weren't designed to survive after landing on the surface,
although one of the small probes continued to send back information for 67
minutes after landing on the surface of Venus until its battery ran out. |
First American
mission to land a probe on Venus which successfully sent back data. |
The "Day
Probe" was the last probe of the 4 probes and bus to transmit. Signal
loss was at 20.55 UT on 9th December 1978. All probes rest inactive on
Venus' surface, the large probe at 4.4° N, 304° E, the North probe at
59.3° N, 4.8° E, the Day probe at 31.3° S, 317° E, the Night probe at
28.7° S, 56.7° E and the Bus at approx 37.9° S, 290.9° E. |
| 9th September 1978 |
Venera 11
(Venus 11) |
Venus |
USSR
|
Soviet probe which
reached Venus and entered its atmosphere on Christmas Day 1978. The probe
was equipped with cameras, but the robotic probe didn't remove the cover
of the lens so the
pictures couldn't be taken (even space probes millions of miles away
forget to remove the lens cap before taking a picture!!). Venera 11 detected
evidence of thunder and lightening and low altitude carbon monoxide. |
First evidence of
thunder and lightening on a planet other than Earth. |
Venera 11's flight
platform continued operating until February 1980. It lost communication
with the Venera 11 lander 95 minutes after landing but continued to send
back other information about Venus. The lander rests inactive at 14° S
299° E |
| 14th September 1978 |
Venera 12
(Venus 12) |
Venus |
USSR
|
Twin mission with
Venera 11. The lander was released from the flight platform on 19th
December and descended through Venus' atmosphere and landed on its surface
two days later. Like Venera 11, Venera 12 was equipped with a colour
camera which couldn't send back images because the lens cover failed to be
removed. |
. |
Venera 12's lander
transmitted with the flight platform orbiting Venus for 110 minutes after
landing. it now rests inactive at 7° S 294° E. The orbiter went on to
study Comet Bradfield in February 1980 before ceasing communication in
April 1980. |
