| Spacecraft | Launch Date | Mission Description | Comment |
| Explorer 1 | 1/31/58 | first U.S. satellite | operated to 5/23/58 |
| Explorer 2 | 3/5/58 | satellite | launch failed |
| Explorer 3 | 3/26/58 | satellite | operated to 6/16/58 |
| Explorer 4 | 7/26/58 | satellite | operated to 10/6/58 |
| Explorer 5 | 8/24/58 | satellite | launch failed |
| Pioneer 3 | 12/6/58 | escape attempt, in orbit to 12/7/58 |
| Pioneer 4 | 3/3/59 | escaped to solar orbit, tracked to 650,000 km
(400,000 mi)
|
| Ranger 1 | 8/23/61 | lunar prototype | launch failure |
| Ranger 2 | 11/18/61 | lunar prototype | launch failure |
| Ranger 3 | 1/26/62 | lunar probe | spacecraft failed, missed Moon |
| Ranger 4 | 4/23/62 | lunar probe | spacecraft failed, impact |
| Ranger 5 | 10/18/62 | lunar probe | spacecraft failed, missed |
| Ranger 6 | 1/30/64 | lunar probe | impact, cameras failed |
| Ranger 7 | 7/28/64 | lunar probe | successful, 4,308 pictures |
| Ranger 8 | 2/17/65 | lunar probe | successful, 7,317 pictures |
| Ranger 9 | 3/21/65 | lunar probe | successful, 5,814 pictures |
| Surveyor 1 | 5/30/66 | lunar lander | operated 6/2/66-1/7/67 |
| Surveyor 2 | 9/20/66 | lunar lander | crashed 9/23 |
| Surveyor 3 | 4/17/67 | lunar lander | operated 4/20-5/4/67 |
| Surveyor 4 | 7/14/67 | lunar lander | crashed 7/17 |
| Surveyor 5 | 9/8/67 | lunar lander | operated 9/11-12/17/67 |
| Surveyor 6 | 11/7/67 | lunar lander | operated 11/10-12/14/67 |
| Surveyor 7 | 1/7/68 | lunar lander | operated 1/10-2/21/68 |
| Mariner 1 | 7/22/62 | Venus probe | launch failed |
| Mariner 2 | 8/27/62 | Venus flyby 12/14/62 | signal lost 1/3/63 |
| Mariner 3 | 11/5/64 | Mars probe | shroud failed |
| Mariner 4 | 11/28/64 | Mars flyby 7/14/65 with pictures | signal lost
12/20/67 |
| Mariner 5 | 6/14/67 | Venus flyby 10/19/67 |
| Mariner 6 | 2/24/69 | Mars flyby 7/31/69 with pictures | lasted to
12/70 |
| Mariner 7 | 3/27/69 | Mars flyby 8/5/69 with pictures | lasted to 12/70 |
| Mariner 8 | 5/8/71 | failed Mars launch |
| Mariner 9 | 5/30/71 | Mars orbiter 11/13/71 to 10/27/72 |
| Mariner 10 | 11/3/73 | Venus swingby 2/5/74, Mercury 3/29, 9/21,
3/16/75 |
| Viking 1 | 8/20/75 | Mars orbiter/lander orbit 6/19/76, landing
7/20/76 |
| Viking 2 | 9/9/75 | Mars orbiter/lander, orbit 8/7/76, landing 9/3/76 |
| Voyager 1 | 9/5/77 | Jupiter 3/5/79, Saturn 11/12/80 with pictures,
continuing on interstellar mission |
| Voyager 2 | 8/20/77 | Jupiter 7/9/79, Saturn 8/25/81, Uranus
1/24/86, Neptune 8/25/89, continuing on interstellar mission |
| Seasat | 6/27/78 | ocean radar satellite | operated three months |
| Solar Mesosphere Explorer | 10/6/81 | successful |
| Infrared Astronomical Satellite | 1/25/83 | NASA/United
Kingdom/Netherlands orbiting infrared telescope | operated to
11/23/83 |
| Magellan | 5/4/89 | Venus radar mapper, orbited 8/10/90 - 10/13/94,
mapped 99% of planet |
| Galileo | 10/18/89 | Jupiter orbiter/probe; Venus swingby 2/10/90, Earth swingby 12/8/90, asteroid Gaspra flyby 10/29/91, second Earth swingby 12/8/92, Ida flyby 8/28/93, Shoemaker-Levy observations
7/94; arrived at Jupiter 12/7/95 for two year mission and
accomplished atmospheric probe portion of mission; extended mission
focused on Jupiter’s moons Europa and Io; Jupiter impact
planned 9/21/03 |
| Ulysses | 10/6/90 | European Space Agency/NASA solar polar mission;
Jupiter swingby 2/8/92, solar southern polar passages 1994
and 2000, northern polar passages 1995 and 2001 |
| Mars Observer | 10/25/92 | lost at Mars orbit insertion (8/24/93) |
| Topex/Poseidon | 8/10/92 | U.S.-French ocean satellite | operating |
| Mars Global Surveyor | 11/7/96 | entered Martian orbit 9/12/97, science
mission began 3/99 | operating |
| Mars Pathfinder | 12/4/96 | landed 7/4/97 and deployed instrumented
rover |
| Cassini | 10/15/97 | Saturn orbiter with Huygens descent probe to
study Saturn’s moon Titan; Venus flybys 4/26/98 and 6/24/99,
Earth flyby 8/18/99, Jupiter flyby 12/30/00, Saturn arrival 7/1/04,
Huygens descent 1/14/05 |
| Deep Space 1 | 10/24/98 | tested ion engine and 11 other advanced
technologies; asteroid flyby 7/99, comet flyby 9/01 |
| Mars Climate Orbiter | 12/11/98 | lost during Mars arrival 9/23/99 |
| Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 microprobes | 1/3/99 | lost
during Mars arrival 12/3/99 |
| Stardust | 2/7/99 | comet flyby 1/2/04, en route to Earth return
1/15/06 |
| Wide-field Infrared Explorer | 3/4/99 | telescope coolant lost shortly
after launch |
| Quick Scatterometer (QuikScat) | 6/19/99 | ocean winds satellite,
operating |
| Active Cavity Irradiance Monitor Satellite (AcrimSat) | 12/20/99 |
Earth-orbiting satellite monitoring Sun’s radiation output, operating
2001 Mars Odyssey, 4/7/01, entered orbit 10/24/01, science mission
began 2/02 | operating |
| Genesis | 8/8/01 | solar wind sample return, Earth return 9/8/04 |
parachutes did not open, but much of science preserved |
| Jason | 12/7/01 | U.S.-French ocean satellite | operating |
| Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment | 3/17/02 | twin satellites
mapping Earth’s gravity | operating |
| Galaxy Evolution Explorer | 4/28/03 | ultraviolet telescope studying
history of star formation | operating |
| Mars Exploration Rover 'Spirit’ | 6/10/03 | instrumented rover landed
1/4/04 | currently operating |
| Mars Exploration Rover 'Opportunity’ | 7/7/03 | instrumented rover,
landed 1/25/04 | currently operating |
| Spitzer Space Telescope | 8/25/03 | infrared telescope studying
early universe, old galaxies, forming stars and dust discs around
other stars | operating |
| Deep Impact | 1/12/05 | spacecraft will send impactor to blast crater
in nucleus of comet Tempel 1; encounter 7/4/05 |
