List of Earth flybys is a list of cases where spacecraft incidentally performed Earth flybys, typically for a gravity assist to another body.
Spacecraft | Organization | Date | Type | Closest Approach | Status | Notes | Image | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giotto (first pass) | ESA | 2 July 1990 | flyby | 22,730 km | success | first Earth flyby, en route to Comet Grigg-Skjellerup | [1] | ||
Galileo (first pass) | NASA | 8 December 1990 | flyby | 960 km | success | gravity assist en route to Jupiter; minimum distance 960 km | [2] | ||
Sakigake (first pass) | ISAS | 8 January 1992 | flyby | 88,790 km | success | previously visited Halley's comet | [3] | ||
Suisei | ISAS | 20 August 1992 | flyby | failure | failure | previously visited Halley's comet; hydrazine depleted, further planned comet flybys abandoned | [4] | ||
Galileo (second pass) | NASA | 8 December 1992 | flyby | 303 km | success | gravity assist en route to Jupiter | [5] | ||
Sakigake (second and third passes) | ISAS | 14 June 1993 | flyby | [6] | |||||
28 October 1994 | flyby | out of fuel; telemetry contact lost November 1995 | |||||||
NEAR Shoemaker | NASA | 23 January 1998 | flyby | 540 km | success | gravity assist en route to Eros | [7] | ||
Nozomi (first pass) | ISAS | 20 December 1998 | flyby | 1000 km | partial success | gravity assist on planned mission to Mars; valve malfunction during flyby required extra burn, which later forced alternate trajectory plan | [8] | ||
Giotto (second pass) | ESA | 1 July 1999 | flyby | failure | n/a | already defunct | [1] | ||
Cassini | NASA ESA ASI | 18 August 1999 | flyby | 1171 km | success | gravity assist en route to Saturn | [9] | ||
Stardust (first pass) | NASA | 15 January 2001 | flyby | 6000 km | success | gravity assist en route to comet 81P/Wild | [10] | ||
Nozomi (second pass) | ISAS | December, 2002 | flyby | 11,000 km | success | gravity assist en route to Mars | [8] | ||
Nozomi (third pass) | ISAS | 19 June 2003 | flyby | 1000 km | success | gravity assist en route to Mars | [8] | ||
Hayabusa | ISAS | 19 May 2004 | flyby | 20,000 km | success | en route to Itokawa | [11] | ||
Rosetta (first pass) | ESA | 4 March 2005 | flyby | 1950 km | success | gravity assist en route to asteroid and comet encounters | [12] | ||
MESSENGER | NASA | 2 August 2005 | flyby | 2348 km | success | en route to Venus and Mercury | [13] | ||
Stardust (second pass) | NASA | 15 January 2006 | flyby | success | drop-off of sample return capsule | [10] | |||
Rosetta (second pass) | ESA | 13 November 2007 | flyby | success | gravity assist en route to asteroid and comet encounters | ||||
Deep Impact (redesignated EPOXI ) (first pass) | NASA | 31 December 2007 [14] | flyby | 15,567 | success | previously visited Comet 9P/Tempel; gravity assist en route to encounter with Comet 103P/Hartley | [15] | ||
Deep Impact (redesignated EPOXI ) (second pass) | NASA | December 2008 [14] [16] | flyby | 43,450 km | success | gravity assist | [15] | ||
Stardust (third pass) | NASA | 14 January 2009 | flyby | 9200 km | success [17] | mission extension to Comet 9P/Tempel; minimum distance 9200 km | [10] | ||
Rosetta (third pass) | ESA | 13 November 2009 | flyby | success | gravity assist en route to asteroid and comet encounters | ||||
Deep Impact (redesignated EPOXI ) (third pass) | NASA | June 2009 [14] | distant flyby | success | [15] | ||||
Deep Impact (redesignated EPOXI ) (fourth pass) | NASA | December 2009 [14] [16] | distant flyby | success | [15] | ||||
Deep Impact (redesignated EPOXI ) (fifth pass) | NASA | June 2010 [14] | flyby | 36,900 km | success | [15] | |||
Juno | NASA | 9 October 2013 | flyby | 559 km | success | gravity assist en route to Jupiter | 2011-040A | ||
Hayabusa2 | JAXA | 3 December 2015 | flyby | success | gravity assist en route to Asteroid 162173 Ryugu | 2014-076A | |||
PROCYON | University of Tokyo JAXA | 3 December 2015 [18] | flyby | success | was en route to Asteroid 2000 DP107 but mission abandoned [19] | 2014-076D | |||
Shin'en 2 | Kyutech | 4 December 2015 [20] | flyby | success | 2014-076B | ||||
OSIRIS-REx | NASA | 22 September 2017 [21] | flyby | 17,237 km | success | Gravity assist en route to Asteroid 101955 Bennu | 2016-055A | ||
BepiColombo | ESA JAXA | 10 April 2020 | flyby | 12,700 km | success | Gravity assist en route to Venus and Mercury | BEPICLMBO | ||
Solar Orbiter | ESA | 26 November 2021 | flyby | 455 km | success | Gravity assist en route to inclined heliocentric orbit | 2020-010A | ||
Lucy | NASA | 16 October 2022 | flyby | 360 km | success | main-belt asteroid flyby en route to Jupiter Trojans | 2021-093A | ||
OSIRIS-APEX | NASA | 24 September 2023 | flyby | 779 km | success | Gravity assist en route to Asteroid 99942 Apophis (OSIRIS-REx mission extension) | 2016-055A |
The Explorers program is a NASA exploration program that provides flight opportunities for physics, geophysics, heliophysics, and astrophysics investigations from space. Launched in 1958, Explorer 1 was the first spacecraft of the United States to achieve orbit. Over 90 space missions have been launched since. Starting with Explorer 6, it has been operated by NASA, with regular collaboration with a variety of other institutions, including many international partners.
The Mariner program was conducted by the American space agency NASA to explore other planets. Between 1962 and late 1973, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) designed and built 10 robotic interplanetary probes named Mariner to explore the inner Solar System - visiting the planets Venus, Mars and Mercury for the first time, and returning to Venus and Mars for additional close observations.
Mariner 4 was the fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations to Earth. Launched on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first close-up pictures of the Martian surface. It captured the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space; their depiction of a cratered, dead planet largely changed the scientific community's view of life on Mars. Other mission objectives were to perform field and particle measurements in interplanetary space in the vicinity of Mars and to provide experience in and knowledge of the engineering capabilities for interplanetary flights of long duration. Initially expected to remain in space for eight months, Mariner 4's mission lasted about three years in solar orbit. On December 21, 1967, communications with Mariner 4 were terminated.
Mariner 9 was a robotic spacecraft that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971, from LC-36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and reached the planet on November 14 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet – only narrowly beating the Soviet probes Mars 2 and Mars 3, which both arrived at Mars only weeks later.
This timeline of artificial satellites and space probes includes uncrewed spacecraft including technology demonstrators, observatories, lunar probes, and interplanetary probes. First satellites from each country are included. Not included are most Earth science satellites, commercial satellites or crewed missions.
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordering events in the exploration of the Solar System by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:
Pioneer 4 was an American spin-stabilized uncrewed spacecraft launched as part of the Pioneer program on a lunar flyby trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit making it the first probe of the United States to escape from the Earth's gravity. Launched on March 3, 1959, it carried a payload similar to Pioneer 3: a lunar radiation environment experiment using a Geiger–Müller tube detector and a lunar photography experiment. It passed within 58,983 km (36,650 mi) of the Moon's surface. However, Pioneer 4 did not come close enough to trigger its photoelectric sensor. The spacecraft was still in solar orbit as of 1969. It was the only successful lunar probe launched by the U.S. in 12 attempts between 1958 and 1963; only in 1964 would Ranger 7 surpass its success by accomplishing all of its mission objectives.
Luna 16 was an uncrewed 1970 space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program. It was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth. The 101 grams sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. It represented the first successful lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and was the third lunar sample return mission overall.
A gravity assist, gravity assist maneuver, swing-by, or generally a gravitational slingshot in orbital mechanics, is a type of spaceflight flyby which makes use of the relative movement and gravity of a planet or other astronomical object to alter the path and speed of a spacecraft, typically to save propellant and reduce expense.
Sakigake, known before launch as MS-T5, was Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft, and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the USA or the Soviet Union. It aimed to demonstrate the performance of the new launch vehicle, test its ability to escape from Earth gravity, and observe the interplanetary medium and magnetic field. Sakigake was also supposed to act as a frame of reference for data received from probes that flew closer to Halley's Comet. Early measurements would be used to improve the mission of the Suisei probe launched several months later.
Pluto Kuiper Express was an interplanetary space probe that was proposed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists and engineers and under development by NASA. The spacecraft was intended to be launched to study Pluto and its moon Charon, along with one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). The proposal was the third of its kind, after the Pluto 350 and a proposal to send a Mariner Mark II spacecraft to Pluto.
The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result, Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose.
Deep Impact was a NASA space probe launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 12, 2005. It was designed to study the interior composition of the comet Tempel 1 (9P/Tempel), by releasing an impactor into the comet. At 05:52 UTC on July 4, 2005, the Impactor successfully collided with the comet's nucleus. The impact excavated debris from the interior of the nucleus, forming an impact crater. Photographs taken by the spacecraft showed the comet to be more dusty and less icy than had been expected. The impact generated an unexpectedly large and bright dust cloud, obscuring the view of the impact crater.
The exploration of Jupiter has been conducted via close observations by automated spacecraft. It began with the arrival of Pioneer 10 into the Jovian system in 1973, and, as of 2023, has continued with eight further spacecraft missions in the vicinity of Jupiter. All of these missions were undertaken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and all but two were flybys taking detailed observations without landing or entering orbit. These probes make Jupiter the most visited of the Solar System's outer planets as all missions to the outer Solar System have used Jupiter flybys. On 5 July 2016, spacecraft Juno arrived and entered the planet's orbit—the second craft ever to do so. Sending a craft to Jupiter is difficult, mostly due to large fuel requirements and the effects of the planet's harsh radiation environment.
EPOXI was a compilation of NASA Discovery program missions led by the University of Maryland and principal investigator Michael A'Hearn, with co-operation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ball Aerospace. EPOXI uses the Deep Impact spacecraft in a campaign consisting of two missions: the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI) and Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization (EPOCh). DIXI aimed to send the Deep Impact spacecraft on a flyby of another comet, after its primary mission was completed in July 2005, while EPOCh saw the spacecraft's photographic instruments as a space observatory, studying extrasolar planets.
A planetary flyby is the act of sending a space probe past a planet or a dwarf planet close enough to record scientific data. This is a subset of the overall concept of a flyby in spaceflight.
Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) is a planetary exploration program operated by NASA. The program funds small, low-cost spacecraft for stand-alone planetary exploration missions. These spacecraft are intended to launch as secondary payloads on other missions and are riskier than Discovery or New Frontiers missions.