Venera ll, an unmanned Soviet spaceship, blasted off September 9, 1978. It traveled about 3 1/2 months to Venus and ejected the lander. The lander entered the Venusian atmosphere on December 25, 1978. It transmitted data for 95 minutes until the flight platform moved out of range.
The flight platform continued on and settled into a heliocentric orbit, detecting solar winds and gamma ray bursts. Its mission ended February 1, 1980.
Soyuz MS-21, launched March 18, 2022, carried three cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Oleg Artemyev, Denis Mateev, and Sergey Korsakov. They participated in Expeditions 66 and 67 while aboard the ISS.
The cosmonauts returned to Earth in September 2022, after almost 195 days in space.
Aerosopace companies Firefly and ISpace (Japan) launched their lunar probes on a SpaceX rocket, January 15, 2025.
Firefly's Blue Ghost landed on the moon in the Mare Crisium basin, March 2, 2025. Its mission will study the moon in preparation for human exploration in the future.
Japanese country ISpace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 (Resilience) crashed onto the lunar surface on June 5, 2025.
Venera 15, a Soviet-era spacecraft, launched to Venus June 2, 1983. It reached Venus on October 10, 1983 and mapped the surface using high resolution imaging systems. The last contact was made in January 1985.
Soyuz TMA-09M, launched May 28, 2013, carried three astronauts to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Luca Parmitano (ESA), and Karen Nyberg (NASA). They participated in Expedition 36 on the ISS and returned to Earth in November 2013, after 166 days in space.
Soyuz TMA-041M crew (L-R): Joe Acaba, Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin
Soyuz TMA-04M, launched May 15, 2012, carried the members of Expedition 31 to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin, and Joe Acaba. During the expedition, an unmanned Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX docked with the ISS as part of a test rendezvous.
They returned to Earth after 125 days on September 17, 2012.
The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) was launched April 14, 2023 from the ESA's space center in French Guyana. It is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists. It will conduct flybys of Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa
At the end of 2035, Juice will impact on Ganymede when it runs out of propellant.
Seated (L-R): Linda Godwin, Thomas Jones, Jay Apt, Michael Clifford
STS-59 mission patch
Space shuttle Endeavour (STS-59) was launched April 9, 1994. Its crew consisted of Commander Sidney Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton, Jay Apt, Michael Clifford, Linda Godwin, and Thomas Jones. The crew was divided into two groups, Red and Blue, and the groups split tasks and research projects throughout the mission.
They returned to Earth eleven days later, after 183 orbits.
Soyuz TMA-12 crew (L-R): Yi So-Yeon, Sergey Volkov, Oleg Kononenko
Soyuz TMA-12, launched April 8, 2008, carried two crew members and a Korean woman, as a Spaceflight Participant to the International Space Station. The crew consisted of Commander Sergey Volkov, Oleg Kononenko, and Yi So-Yeon (Korean Astronaut Program).
Volkov and Kononenko participated in Expedition 17 and they returned to Earth in October 2008. Richard Garriott, who had arrived on Soyuz TMA-13 eleven days earlier, returned with them.
Yi So-Yeon remained on the ISS for almost eleven days and returned on Soyuz TMA-11.
Soyuz TMA-21 crew (L-R): Ronald Garan, Aleksandr Samokutyavey, Andrei Borisenko
Soyuz TMA-21, launched April 4, 2011, carried members of Expedition 27 to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Samokutyayev, Andrey Borisenko, and Ronald Garan (NASA). They participated in Expeditions 27-28, before returning to Earth in September 2011.
Soyuz MS-23, launched February 24, 2023, was an uncrewed spaceflight to the International Space Station to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22.
A micro-meteoroid impact resulted in a 0.8 mm hole in the radiator of Soyuz MS-22, and doubts about the safety of the spacecraft. It returned to Earth uncrewed, and Soyuz MS-23 was launched.
Soyuz MS-23 docked with the ISS February 26 and returned to Earth in September 2023, with Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and Francisco Rubio.
Luna 19, launched September 28, 1971 by the Soviet Union, was sent to the moon to carry out studies of gravitational fields, the radiation environment, and solar wind. Luna 19 entered a parking orbit around Earth and headed toward the moon October 2.
Luna 19 studied the moon until contact was lost November 1, 1972.
Explorer 4, launched July 26, 1958 from Cape Canaveral, was the first of two planned satellites from the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to study the Van Allen radiation belts. It reached a height of 163 miles. Soon after orbit insertion, Explorer 4 developed a tumbling motion with a period about 6 seconds, which made interpretation of the data collected from the satellite very difficult.
Explorer 4 performed until the low-power and plastic scintillator detector failed on September 3, 1958. The Geiger-Muller tubes and the cesium/iodide crystal detectors operated until September 19. The high-power transmitter worked until October 5, likely due to the exhaustion of the power batteries.
Explorer re-entered Earth's atmosphere October 23, 1959.
Chandrayaan-2, launched July 22, 2019, is the second mission to the moon, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The spacecraft launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre and reached lunar orbit on August 20, 2019.
The Vikram lunar lander with the Pragyan rover attempted to land on the lunar surface September 6, but the lander crashed due to a software error. The lunar orbiter continues to operate from orbit around the moon.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched in 2023 and successfully made a lunar landing.
India officially entered the space age following the successful launch of Rohini-1 (Rohini Satellite 1 or RS-1), July 18, 1980. It was manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organization. India became the seventh country with its own ability to launch satellites. It was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center. It carried instruments such as a sun sensor, magnetometer, and temperature sensors.
It was planned to have a lifespan of 100 days, but it remained in orbit for 20 months.
Soyuz TMA-05M, launched July 15, 2012, carried the members of Expedition 32 crew to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Malenchenko, Sunita Williams, and Akihiko Hoshide. The crew participated in Expedition 32 and Expedition 33, before returning to Earth November 19, 2012.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its first spacecraft to another planet July 3, 1998. Nozomi ("wish" or "hope") was intended to orbit Mars and study the atmosphere and solar wind. During its first flyby of Earth for a gravitational assist, Nozomi suffered a malfunctioning valve which depleted much of its fuel and left Nozomi with insufficient acceleration to reach Mars. Two more course corrections used more propellant than planned, leaving Nozomi even more depleted.
JAXA planned to put Nozomi into a heliocentric orbit for four years and make two Earth flybys to gain momentum and reach Mars at a slower velocity.
In April 2002, Nozomi was approaching Earth for another gravity assist when solar flares damaged its onboard communications and power systems. An electrical short in a power cell caused the remaining hydrazine fuel to freeze. Fortunately the fuel thawed out by the time it reached Earth, due to its proximity to the sun, and made a successful flyby in December 2002.
Another Earth flyby occurred in June 2003, but in December 2003, efforts to orient Nozomi to prepare for a main thruster orbital insertion at Mars failed. The mission was abandoned. The small thrusters were fired on December 9, 2003 so Nozomi would approach Mars to a distance of 1000 km and would not impact the surface. The spacecraft remains in a heliocentric orbit.
Seated (L-R): Vladimir Dezhurov, Robert Gibson, Anatoly Solovyev
Standing (L-R): Norman Thagard, Gennady Strekalov, Gregory Harbaugh, Ellen Baker,Charles Precourt,Bonnie Dunbar, Nikolai Budarin
STS-71 mission patch
Atlantis (STS-71), launched June 27, 1995, was the first Space Shuttle to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. Its crew consisted of Commander Robert Gibson, Pilot Charles Precourt, Ellen Baker, Gregory Harbaugh, and Bonnie Dunbar. It delivered two cosmonauts, Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin, to Mir to participate in Expedition EO-19, and return with members of EO-18.
The mission included filming with an IMAX camera, the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II), and to conduct biomedical investigations. Some of these experiments covered cardiovascular and pulmonary functions, human metabolism, neuroscience, hygiene, sanitation, radiation, and behavioral performance.
Atlantis undocked from Mir on July 4, and returned to Earth with the original crew, Gennady Strekalov, Vladimir Dezhurov, and Norman Thagard. The shuttle's crew spent almost 10 days in space.
Shenzhou 12 crew (L-R): Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming
Shenzhou 12 mission patch
Shenzhou 12, launched June 17, 2021, carried three taikonauts on the first flight to the Tiangong space station. It was also the first crewed Chinese flight since Shenzhou 11 in 2016. Its crew consisted of Commander Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo. The crew conducted two EVAs during their stay.
Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo conducted the first spacewalk on July 4, completing installation of the station's robotic arm, and installed exterior equipment for use on future missions. Their EVA lasted 6 hours 46 minutes.
The two taikonauts conducted a second EVA on August 20 to test spacecraft equipment, install a backup thermal control pump, and installed and raised panoramic camera D on the Tianhe core module. The EVA lasted almost 6 hours.
The crew returned to Earth on September 17, after more than 92 days in space.
Mariner 5, launched June 14, 1967, carried a cadre of instruments to Venus, to study its atmosphere and magnetic field fluctuations above the planet. It had been built as a backup to Mariner 4, a Mars probe, but the Mariner 4 project was a success, NASA modified Mariner 5 to study Venus during the 1967 Venus launch window.
Mariner 5 flew by Venus on October 19, 1967 at an altitude of 2480 miles, and determined that the surface was hotter and the atmosphere denser than previous studies had indicated.
Between April and November 1968, NASA tried to contact Mariner 5 to reacquire a signal for probing interplanetary conditions. A signal was received in October, but the they had no success in gaining an uplink signal, so there was no possibility of fixing or continuing its use. Operations were terminated November 5, 1968. Mariner 5 remains in a heliocentric orbit.
