| LAUNCH DATE |
NAME |
DESTINATION |
COUNTRY |
MISSION DETAILS |
ADDITIONAL
INFO |
CURRENT STATUS |
| 14th February 1980 |
SolarMax (or Solar Maximum Mission) |
Sun |
USA
|
SolarMax stayed in orbit around Earth while observing the
Sun, recording information about sunspots and solar flares. Mid-way
through its mission, SolarMax was visited by space shuttle Challenger in
1984. Astronauts brought the craft into the shuttle's payload bay for
maintenance and repair work before placing it back into orbit. |
. |
SolarMax's mission ended on 2nd December 1989 when it
re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burnt up. |
| 12th April 1981 |
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) |
Earth |
USA
|
Space Shuttle Columbia became the first launch of a reusable
vehicle to travel from Earth to space and back. It was designed to reduce
the cost of space travel and to increase the regularity of space missions.
The first mission spent two days and six hours in low-Earth orbit and was
the first of about 120 Space Shuttle missions over the next 30 years. |
First launch of a reusable manned space vehicle. |
The first Space Shuttle mission lasted over 2 days. Columbia
remained in service until it was destroyed on its 28th mission in 2003
during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. |
| 30th
October 1981 |
Venera 13
(Venus 13) |
Venus |
USSR
 |
Launched as a twin
mission with Venera 14. Venera 13 landed on Venus on 1st March 1982. It
sent back the first colour images of Venus and transmitted to the Venera
13 orbiter for 127 minutes; it was expected to survive for 32 minutes. It
was also the first probe to record sound on another world. |
Took the first
colour images of Venus, first space craft to record sound on another
planet. |
Venera 13's lander
rests inactive at coordinates 7° 30′ S, 303° E. The orbiter
transmitted to Earth until March 1983 |
| 4th November 1981 |
Venera 14
(Venus 14) |
Venus |
USSR
|
Twin mission of Venera 13.
Landed on Venus on 5th March 1982, Sent back colour images of
Venus. Equipped with a spring-loaded arm which would reach out and analyse
surrounding soil. However, it ended up analysing the lens cap which was
released from the camera. It travelled millions of miles to analyse
something from Earth! |
. |
Venera 14's lander
rests inactive at coordinates 13° 15′ S, 310° E. The orbiter
transmitted to Earth until March 1983 |
| 4th April 1983 |
Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-6) |
Earth |
USA
|
Challenger was the second of NASA's fleet of Space Shuttles.
Its first launch was on 4th April 1983. During its 5 day mission,
Challenger launched a tracking and data relay satellite into Earth orbit. |
First launch of Challenger. |
Challenger completed nine missions before exploding shortly
after the launch of its tenth mission in January 1986, destroying the
space shuttle and killing all seven astronauts. |
| 2nd June 1983 |
Venera 15
(Venus 15) |
Venus |
USSR
|
Soviet orbiter which
entered Venus orbit on 10th October 1983. Combined with Venera 16, it mapped
25% of Venus' surface. |
. |
Mapping of Venus
continued for 8 months. Now remains inactive in orbit around Venus. |
| 2nd June 1983 |
Venera 16
(Venus 16) |
Venus |
USSR
|
Soviet orbiter which
entered Venus orbit on 14th October 1983. Along with Venera 15, it mapped
25% of Venus; surface over a period of eight months |
Final Venera mission |
Mapping of Venus
continued for 8 months after entering Venus orbit. Now inactive in orbit
around Venus. |
| 19th June 1983 |
Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-7) |
Earth |
USA
|
Challenger's second mission is special because it took the
first American woman into space. She was Sally K. Ride, who also flew on a
later shuttle mission (again in Challenger). She has spent over 343 hours in space. She is
now involved in science education, being involved in websites and writing
books about space exploration. |
First American woman in space |
Challenger's second mission returned to Earth on 24th June
1983. |
| 3rd February 1984 |
Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-41-B) |
Earth |
USA
|
Challenger's fourth mission and the first to land at the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida (all previous shuttle missions landed at
Edwards Air Force airbase in California). The mission lasted for almost 8
days but is most notable as the first mission to include an untethered
space walk. Astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert L. Stewart used a
manned manoeuvring unit (a jetpack) which meant they could control their
movement in space. |
First space flight to land at its launch site. First
untethered space walk. |
Challenger returned on 11th February 1984. The
Manned
Manoeuvring Unit was used for two further missions before being
discontinued with NASA returning to tethered space walks. |
| 30th August 1984 |
Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-41-D) |
Earth |
USA
|
Discovery's maiden flight. Several communications satellites
were launched from this mission which lasted exactly 6 days. |
First launch of Discovery. |
Discovery's first mission ended on 5th September 1984. There
have been more Space Shuttle flights using Discovery than any of the other
Space Shuttles. After both shuttle disasters (Challenger in 1986, Columbia
in 2003), Discovery was the shuttle launched afterwards. Discovery is the
oldest shuttle still in service. |
| 3rd October 1984 |
Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-51-J) |
Earth |
USA
|
The maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The craft
contained a payload for the US Department of Defence. This was the second
mission to contain a classified payload, meaning that the general public
are not allowed to know what was actually launched during it. |
First flight of Atlantis. |
This mission returned to Earth after four days. Atlantis is
still in service. |
| 15th December 1984 |
Vega 1 |
Venus and Halley's
Comet |
USSR
|
Soviet mission which
would have been a Venera mission but was modified to study Halley's Comet
in 1986. Vega 1 reached Venus on 11th June 1985. It featured a lander but
failed to transmit data from the planet's surface because its lander
experiments were activated while the probe was still descending through
the atmosphere. Aerobots were also launched into the planet's high
atmosphere to measure pressure, temperature and wind speeds. Vega 1 used
gravity assist to propel it to Halley's Comet. |
Hurricane speed winds
were measured by the Aerobots of Vega 1. |
Vega 1's mission
ended in 1986 after its encounter with Halley's Comet. It is now in orbit
around the Sun. |
| 21st December 1984 |
Vega 2 |
Venus and Halley's
Comet |
USSR
|
The twin mission of
Vega 1. Vega 2 was almost identical. It successfully sent back information
from Venus' surface for 56 minutes after landing on 15th June 1985.
It used gravity assist to propel to Halley's Comet. |
. |
Vega 2's mission
ended in 1986 after it encounter with Halley's comet. it is now in orbit
around the Sun. |
