What was the first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter?

Significant Events. 1610: Galileo Galilei makes the first detailed observations of Jupiter. 1973: Pioneer 10 becomes the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and fly past Jupiter.

What is the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid?

Dawn spacecraft
— NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on Saturday became the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn will study the asteroid, named Vesta, for a year before departing for a second destination, a dwarf planet named Ceres, in July 2012.

Did lucy launch?

5 days ago
(CNN) The first NASA mission that will fly by a total of eight ancient asteroids has launched on its ambitious journey. Weather conditions were greater than 90% favorable Saturday morning when the Lucy mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:34 a.m. ET.

What was the name of the first spacecraft to fly by Mercury?

Mariner 10
The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA’s Mariner 10, which imaged about 45% of the surface. NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft flew by Mercury three times and orbited the planet for four years before crashing on its surface at the end of its mission.

Where is Voyager 2 now?

Voyager 2 remains in contact with Earth through the NASA Deep Space Network. In 2020, maintenance to the Deep Space Network cut outbound contact with the probe for eight months.

Has any spacecraft visited Jupiter?

The first spacecraft to visit Jupiter was Pioneer 10 in 1973, followed a year later by Pioneer 11. Ulysses further studied Jupiter’s magnetosphere in 1992 and then again in 2000. The Cassini probe approached the planet in 2000 and took very detailed images of its atmosphere.

Can you land on an asteroid?

Yes, on February 12, 2001 flight controllers landed NASA’s NEAR spacecraft on an asteroid called Eros. NEAR was the first spacecraft to orbit and touchdown on the surface of an asteroid. NEAR began orbiting Eros a year earlier, on February 14, 2000.

Have any spacecraft landed on an asteroid?

NASA’s NEAR was the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid and also was the first to land on one. NEAR’s landing on Eros marked the first time a U.S. spacecraft was the first to land on a celestial body, having been beaten by the Soviets in landing on the Moon, Mars, and Venus.

Has any spacecraft landed on Mercury?

Only one NASA spacecraft has visited Mercury and that was Mariner 10 in 1974 and 1975. It was programmed to fly by the planet three times to take images of its heavily-cratered surface.