International Cometary Explorer flies through Giacobini-Zinner comet's tail 1985

The International Cometary Explorer (ICE), launched in August 1978, passed through the Giacobini-Zinner comet on September 11, 1985 and conducted a flyby of the comet's nucleus at 4800 miles. 

 

International Cometary Explorer launched 1978

The International Cometary Explorer (ICE), also known as the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3), was launched August 12, 1978.  It became the first spacecraft to visit a comet, when it encountered Comet Giacobini-Zinner in September 1985.

It made a flyby of Halley's Comet in March 1986, but the closest it got to the comet's nucleus was 28M kilometers.  By comparison, Earth's minimum distance was 20.8M kilometers.

Contact with the probe was lost September 16, 2014.

Vega 2 encounters Halley's Comet 1986

Vega 2, launched in December 1984, made its closest approach to Halley's Comet March 9, 1986.  It first released a descent module onto the surface of Venus in June 1985.  After the Venus encounter, the Soviet spacecraft used the planet's gravity to intercept the comet.  It began its enounter on March 7, 1986 and made its closest approach March 9.  It took 700 images of Halley's Comet.

Contact with Vega 2 was lost March 24, 1987.

Deep Space 1 encounters Comet 19P/Borrelly 2001

Deep Space 1, a NASA probe launched October 1998, made a close encounter of Comet 19P/Borrelly September 22, 2001.  The spacecraft's main purpose was a flyby of asteroid 9969 Braille, which it completed in July 1999.

The original mission was to visit comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura and asteroid 3352 McAuliffe, but its launch was delayed so its targets were changed to Braille and comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington.  Due to a malfunction with Deep Space 1's star tracker, the encounter with Wilson-Harrington was  cancelled and set to rendezvous with Comet Borrelly.

The comet was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly in December 1904 from Marseilles, France during a routine search for comets.  Deep Space 1 discovered its nucleus to be shaped like a bowling pin.

Mariner 10 second flyby of Mercury 1974

Mariner 10, launched in November 1973, made its second of three flybys of Mercury September 21, 1974. It had made a flyby of Venus prior to its first visit of Mercury.  Mariner 10 managed to photograph almost half of the planet during its second encounter.  It flew within 30,000 miles of the southern hemisphere.

Voyager 1 launched 1977

Voyager 1, launched September 5, 1977, was the fist man-made object to cross into interstellar space.  It was launched 16 days after Voyager 2 and flew by Jupiter in March 1979.

It made a flyby of Saturn in November 1980, including an encounter with Titan.

NASA still receives signals from both Voyager craft, but Voyager 1 might run out of fuel by 2025.

Giotto, spacecraft to Halley's Comet, launched 1985

European Space Agency's Giotto spacecraft, launched July 2, 1985, visited Halley's Comet in March 1986. It followed the Soviet Union's Vega 1 and Vega 2.  Giotto passed the comet successfully despite being hit by small particles.  One collision sent the spacecraft spinning off its stabilized axis.  The antenna was not pointed toward earth and the dust shield was not in a position to protect its instruments.  After 32 minutes, Giotto stabilized itself and continued gathering data.

Another collision destroyed the multi-color camera, but after it took close-up pictures of the nucleus.  It was turned off March 15, 1986.

ESA woke up Giotto July 2, 1990 for a flyby of Comet Grigg-Skjellerup on July 10.  Giotto was again switched off.

The spacecraft is named after Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone, who witnessed Halley's Comet in 1301 and depicted it as the star of Bethlehem in his painting Adoration of the Magi.

Stardust encounters comet Wild 2 2004

Comet Wild 2 as seen from Stardust

NASA's Stardust spacecraft encountered the comet Wild 2 January 2, 2004.  That's pronounced "vilt" since it was named after Paul Wild, the Swiss astronomer who discovered it in January 1978 and that's how his name is pronounced.

Stardust was launched in February 1999 to collect dust samples from the coma of the comet, but it also flew by and studied asteroid 5535 Annefrank.

The Sample Return Capsule separated from Stardust and entered Earth's atmosphere January 2006.  Samples from Wild 2 were sent to Johnson Space Center in Houston for analysis.  Scientists announced that glycine, an amino acid which is a fundamental chemical in building blocks of life, was detected for the first time in material ejected from a comet.

Stardust was given an extension and made a flyby of comet Tempel 1 in February 2011, although no samples were collected.  The spacecraft was decommissioned March 2011.

Venera 2, Soviet probe to Venus, launched 1965

Venera 2, the second probe of the Soviet space program to visit Venus, was launched November 12, 1965.  It made its closest flyby of Venus February 27, 1966, during which radio contact was suspended so the analytical instruments on board could do their job.  The Soviets were unable to regain contact with Venera 2 and was considered lost.

Giotto probe visits Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup 1992

The European Space Agency launched the Giotto probe in July 1985, and on July 10, 1992, it made its closest approach to Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. 

The probe first made contact with Halley's Comet in March 1986, but during the flyby, the probe's camera was destroyed.  When Giotto passed by Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup, it could not take any images. 

NEAR Shoemaker Flies by asteroid Mathilde, 1997

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker spacecraft, launched in February 1996, made its closest approach to the asteroid Mathilde (officially 253 Mathilde) June 27, 1997.

The flyby lasted only about 25 minutes, since NEAR was traveling over 20,000 miles an hour, but it took about 500 pictures of the asteroid.

Mathilde was discovered in November 1885 and is approximately 50 km (30 miles) in diameter

Mariner 10 makes third, final, and closest flyby of Mercury 1975

Mariner 10 made its third and last flyby of the planet Mercury, March 16, 1975.  The probe was launched November 3, 1973, the last of NASA's Mariner program and made a flyby of Venus February 5, 1974. 

It made three flybys of Mercury, the last being the closest at 203 miles above the surface near the north pole.  Mariner 10 discovered a tenuous atmosphere consisting of helium, a magnetic field and a large, iron-rich core.  Daytime temperatures can reach 369 °F and nighttime temperatures can drop as low as -297 °F.

Mariner 10 remains in orbit around the sun.

Giotto spacecraft flies by Halley's Comet 1986

Launched July 2, 1985 by the European Space Agency, the spacecraft Giotto made its closest approach to Halley's Comet, March 14, 1986.  Giotto passed less than 600 km from the comet's nucleus and sent back stunning pictures.  It survived several impacts from small objects and one even knocked it off its axis so its antenna did not point toward Earth and its on-board instruments were not protected by its dust shield.

Thirty-two minutes later it re-oriented itself and continued sending back data.  The Halley Multicolor Camera was destroyed by an impact but not before Giotto made its closest approach.

The following day, ESA turned off its instruments until July 2, 1990 when Giotto was reactivated so it could make a flyby of Comet Grigg-Skjellerup in July 1992, making it the first probe to visit two comets.

Giotto was part of a "Halley Armada" which was composed of several probes from different space agencies.  The Soviets sent Vega 1 and Vega 2.  Vega 1 made its closes approach, just under 9000 km, on March 6 and Vega 2 followed on March 9. 

The Japanese also sent two, Sagigake (March 11) and Suisei (March 8), but their closest approaches were about 1M km.

Dawn arrives at Ceres 2015

Ceres as seen by Dawn

The spacecraft Dawn arrived at the minor planet Ceres March 6, 2015.  Launched September 27, 2007, Dawn made a flyby of Mars on its way to the asteroid belt, arriving at the minor planet Vesta July 6, 2011.  After a 14 month study, Dawn headed toward Ceres, the largest object between Mars and Jupiter.  Right away, Dawn started sending back stunning pictures of the minor planet, showing mysterious bright spots on the surface.

Dawn will continue to study Ceres until its fuel runs out later this year.  It will remain in a stable orbit around the minor planet.

First images of Kuiper Belt objects taken by New Horizons

New Horizons spacecraft, which made a flyby of Pluto in July 2015, took images of two Kuiper Belt objects, the farthest images from Earth ever captured by a spacecraft. 

These are falso-color images of 2012 HZ84 and 2012 HE85 are the closest-ever pictures of Kuiper Belt objects.

New Horizons is the fifth spacecraft to travel beyond the solar system at about 700,000 miles a day.  It made a course correction back in December to set it on its way to visit dwarf planet MU69 on January 1, 2019. 

Pioneer 10 flyby Jupiter 1973

Pioneer 10, launched March 2, 1972, made its closest approach to Jupiter December 4, 1973.  It was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt and encounter the biggest planet in our solar system. Pioneer 10 passed within 81,000 miles of the cloud tops of Jupiter.  It took measurements of Jupiter's magnetosphere, radiation belts, magnetic field and atmosphere.  These measurements helped in the design of the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft.

Galileo spacecraft performs first asteroid flyby of 951 Gaspra, 1991

The Galileo spacecraft, launched from Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-34) October 18, 1989, made the first flyby of an asteroid, 951 Gaspra, October 29, 1991.  After being launched, it made flybys of Earth and Venus to gather speed to make its journey to the asteroid belt.

Galileo revealed Gaspra to be a cratered, elongated body, measuring 11.8 x 7.5 x 6.8 miles.

Mariner 5 flies by Venus 1967

Mariner 5, launched June 14, 1967, made its closest approach to Venus on October 19, 1967.  It was meant to be a backup for Mariner 4, but with the success of that mission,  it was modified for a Venus mission. 

Liftoff went without many problems and data sent during its flyby corroborated the Soviet's Venera 4 lander which arrived at Venus the day before, that the Venusian atmosphere was hotter and more denser than previously thought.

NASA discovered earlier Mariner 5 was in a slow roll and soon after its flyby, contact was lost.  The mission was ended November 5 and the defunct spacecraft is in a heliocentric orbit.