Jupiter Information Page
Mission Data
Observational data produced from a Mission or Investigation
Primary
Pioneer 10
3/2/1972—1/23/2003
Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft that went to Jupiter. It was also the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity. It was launched on March 2, 1972. It was at 80 AU from Earth when it lost contact.
Pioneer 11
4/6/1973—9/30/1995
NASA's Pioneer 11, a sister spacecraft to Pioneer 10, was the first spacecraft to study Saturn up close. The mission ended in 1995 and Pioneer 11 is on a trajectory to take it out of the solar system. Pioneer 11 is one of five spacecraft on a trajectory that will take them out of our solar system. Pioneer 11 will pass near the star Lambda Aquila in almost four million years. Like Pioneer 10 and Voyager 1 and 2, Pioneer 11 carries a message from humanity to the cosmos.
International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)
1/26/1978—9/30/1996
The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) is an UV spectra observatory satellite. It was launched on January 26, 1978. It was able to observations on objects that included Solar System bodies.
Galileo
11/18/1989—9/21/2003
The Galileo was sent to Jupiter to study the planet and its moons. It was delivered to space on Space Shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989. It sent an atmospheric probe into Jupiter's atmosphere to study the composition.
Voyager
9/5/1997
The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before. Continuing on their more-than-40-year journey since their 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the sun than Pluto. In August 2012, Voyager 1 made the historic entry into interstellar space, the region between stars, filled with material ejected by the death of nearby stars millions of years ago. Voyager 2 entered interstellar space on November 5, 2018 and scientists hope to learn more about this region. Both spacecraft are still sending scientific information about their surroundings through the Deep Space Network, or DSN. The primary mission was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. After making a string of discoveries th... ...Show More
Secondary
