Timeline of Solar System exploration
Exploring the solar system means sending robots and space probes to different planets and moons to take pictures, measure temperatures and study what's inside.
For a long time, people only knew about the planets in the Solar System by looking through telescopes and taking notes about what they saw. But in 1957, when the Soviet Union sent a small metal ball called Sputnik 1 into orbit around the Earth, people realized they could explore the Solar System in a new way—by sending robots and space probes to different planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
The first successful mission to explore the Solar System was the United States’ Pioneer 10, which was launched in 1972. It flew past the planet Jupiter in 1973 and sent back pictures and data about the planet's clouds, magnetic fields, and huge storms.
In 1975, the US sent the Viking 1 and Viking 2 spaceships to Mars. They were the first exploration to ever land on the planet and took many pictures and measured the temperature of the Martian surface.
In 1979, the US launched the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, which were sent on a grand tour of the planets in the Solar System. They flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and sent back the first close-up pictures of these planets and their moons.
Later on, the Cassini spacecraft explored Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017, and the New Horizons probe has been flying past the dwarf planet Pluto and the Kuiper Belt since 2015.
Today, robots and probes are still exploring the Solar System – gathering data, taking pictures, and helping us to better understand the planets and moons that surround our sun.
For a long time, people only knew about the planets in the Solar System by looking through telescopes and taking notes about what they saw. But in 1957, when the Soviet Union sent a small metal ball called Sputnik 1 into orbit around the Earth, people realized they could explore the Solar System in a new way—by sending robots and space probes to different planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
The first successful mission to explore the Solar System was the United States’ Pioneer 10, which was launched in 1972. It flew past the planet Jupiter in 1973 and sent back pictures and data about the planet's clouds, magnetic fields, and huge storms.
In 1975, the US sent the Viking 1 and Viking 2 spaceships to Mars. They were the first exploration to ever land on the planet and took many pictures and measured the temperature of the Martian surface.
In 1979, the US launched the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, which were sent on a grand tour of the planets in the Solar System. They flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and sent back the first close-up pictures of these planets and their moons.
Later on, the Cassini spacecraft explored Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017, and the New Horizons probe has been flying past the dwarf planet Pluto and the Kuiper Belt since 2015.
Today, robots and probes are still exploring the Solar System – gathering data, taking pictures, and helping us to better understand the planets and moons that surround our sun.
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