Current Missions
* Current missions are listed from earliest launch to most recent.

Voyager to the outer planets Launches: August 20 and September 5, 1977    The twin spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 flew by and observed Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune. Both craft are now heading out of the solar system. In 1998, Voyager 1 became the most distant human-made object in space. Voyager home page Voyager, the Grandest Tour Mission description

Ulysses solar polar mission Launch: October 6, 1990    A joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, Ulysses was carried into Earth orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery and propelled toward Jupiter, where the giant planet's gravity helped direct the craft's flight path into an unusual orbit around the Sun. It has since made several orbital passes of the Sun's north and south poles. Ulysses home page Mission description

Wide Field and Planetary Camera Launches: April 24, 1990; December 2, 1993    These two instruments have served as the main camera capturing pictures on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. When an optical flaw was discovered in Hubble's main mirror, JPL's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 corrected the space telescope's vision and saved the mission. Mission Description

Topex/Poseidon Launch: August 10, 1992    A joint effort between NASA and France's National Center for Space Studies, this satellite mission measures sea level every 10 days. This mission allows scientists to chart the height of the seas across ocean basins with an accuracy of less than 10 centimeters (4 inches), affording a unique view of ocean phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña. Ocean Surface Topography home page Mission description

Mars Global Surveyor Launch: November 7, 1996     This orbiter has studied the entire Martian surface, atmosphere and interior, and has returned more data about the red planet than all other Mars missions combined. Among key science findings so far, Global Surveyor has taken pictures of gullies and debris flow features that suggest there may be current sources of liquid water, similar to an aquifer, at or near the surface of the planet. Global Surveyor home page Mission description

Cassini-Huygens to Saturn Launch: October 15, 1997     A joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, Cassini is sending a sophisticated robotic spacecraft to orbit the ringed planet and study the Saturnian system in detail over a four-year period. Onboard Cassini is a scientific probe called Huygens that will be released from the main spacecraft to parachute through the atmosphere to the surface of Saturn's largest and most interesting moon, Titan, which is shrouded by an opaque atmosphere. Cassini home page Mission description

Stardust Launch: February 7, 1999    The Stardust spacecraft will fly through the cloud of dust that surrounds the nucleus of comet Wild-2 and, for the first time ever, bring cometary material back to Earth. Stardust home page Mission description

Quick Scatterometer Launch: June 19, 1999    This ocean-observing satellite carries an instrument called a scatterometer, which operates by sending radar pulses to the ocean surface and measuring the "backscattered" or echoed radar pulses bounced back to the satellite. This instrument can acquire hundreds of times more observations of surface wind velocity each day than can ships and buoys. Seawinds home page Mission description

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Launch: December 18, 1999    This imaging instrument flying on NASA's Terra satellite is designed to obtain high-resolution global, regional and local views of Earth in 14 color bands. Mission home page Mission description

Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer Launch: December 18, 1999    Carried onboard NASA's Terra satellite, this instrument is a sophisticated imaging system that collects images from nine widely spaced angles as it glides above Earth. Instrument home page Mission description

Active Cavity Irradiance Monitor Satellite Launch: December 20, 1999    This satellite is designed to monitor the total amount of the Sun's energy reaching Earth. These data will help climatologists improve their predictions of climate change and global warming over the next century. Satellite home page Mission description

Keck Interferometer First light: March 2001    The Keck Interferometer links two 10-meter (33-foot) telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The linked telescopes form the world's most powerful optical telescope system. They will be used to search for planets around nearby stars, as part of NASA's quest to find habitable, Earth-like planets. Telescope home page

2001 Mars Odyssey Launch: April 7, 2001    Mars Odyssey is an orbiting spacecraft designed to determine the composition of the Martian surface, to detect water and shallow buried ice, and to study the radiation environment. Odyssey home page Mission description

Genesis Launch: August 8, 2001    Following launch August 8, 2001, the Genesis spacecraft headed toward an orbit around L1, a point between Earth and the Sun where the gravity of both bodies is balanced, to collect particles of the solar wind. After two years, the samples will be returned to Earth. Genesis home page Mission description

Jason 1 Launch: December 7, 2001    This oceanography mission is a follow-up to Topex/Poseidon and will monitor global ocean circulation, discover the tie between the oceans and atmosphere, improve global climate predictions, and monitor events such as El Niño. Jason home page Mission description

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Launch: Mar. 17, 2002    This joint U.S.-German mission consists of two spacecraft flying in tandem to measure Earth's gravitational field very precisely. This will enable a better understanding of ocean surface currents and ocean heat transport. Grace home page Mission description

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Launch: May 4, 2002    This instrument is to be flown aboard NASA's Aqua satellite to make highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperatures. Instrument home page Mission description

SeaWinds on Midori 2 Launch: December 13, 2002    This scatterometer instrument, called SeaWinds, flies on Japan's Midori 2. Scatterometers sense ripples caused by winds near the ocean's surface, from which scientists compute wind speed and direction. Instrument home page Mission description

Galaxy Evolution Explorer Launch: April 28, 2003    This mission uses ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the history of star formation 80 percent of the way back to the Big Bang. Galex home page Mission description

Mars Exploration Rovers First rover launch: June 10, 2003. Second rover launch: July 7, 2003    Two landers will convey to Mars a pair of powerful rovers expected to trek up to about 40 meters (44 yards) across the planet's surface each day. Mars Exploration Rover home page Mission description

Space Infrared Telescope Facility Launch: August 25, 2003, Eastern time (August 24, Pacific time)    This mission is an infrared telescope that will study the early universe, old galaxies and forming stars, and will detect dust discs around stars where planets may be forming. Mission home page Mission description

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