Introduction
While early telescopes were vital for showing astronomers the orbits of the planet, they were not able to provide much information about the planets themselves. As late as the 1950s, astronomers were making assumptions about the planets that could not be verified using telescopes-such as the possibility of vegetation on Mars and Venus. Only with the advent of space probes have learnt more of the truth about the solar system.
Different Duties
Probes are normally designed to do one of three things when they reach their destination. Some fly by a planet at a distance of several hundred Km, taking pictures of the planet from this planet.
Others are called orbiters and are able to gather more detailed information about the planet because they can orbit it for a longer period of the time at a lower height. The probes that get closest to the planets are called landers. So far, probes have only landed on the Moon, Mars, and Venus, although the Galileo spacecraft dropped a small probe into ther glassy atmosphere of Jupiter.
Landers
Landers are the only human-made things to have touched down on the surface of the another planet in the Solar System. The soviet-built Luna 2 was the first space probe to touch the Moon's surface, although it didn't so much land as crash! Mars is the most visited of the worlds in our solar system. More eight probes have visited the red planet since 1965 and more are planned to go soon. Many probes have actually touched down on the surface to bring us back incredible information about the Planets's composition and environment. In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder probe landed on the northern hemisphere of Mars. It look the most detailed pictures of the planet to date.
Some More Facts
1) The Viking Probes visited Mars in 1976 in search of life. They conducted numerous tests on Martian of any living organism.
2) The Mariner 10 probe flew by Mercury 3 times in order to photograph the planet surface. It flew with in 327 Km of the planet but because of its flight path it could only photograph one half of mercury.
3) The Galileo Probe was not actually launched towards Jupiter, its target , but towards the sun. The Probe used the suns gravity to catapult it immense distances to Jupiter.
Beyond the planets
Four Probes are hurtling out beyond the planets as you read this. NASA's Jupiter and Saturn probes, Pioneer 1 and 2 flew by their respective planets and kept on going deep into the far reaches of our Solar System. Each carries an engraved plate that is a message for any extraterrestrial beings who finds them. The two Voyager Probes, launched in 1977, carry gold plated records containing sounds and images from earth. These probes will continue to head out of the solar system, measuring the extent of the Sun's Solar wind. They will eventually run out of power but will keep drifting until they break up, collide with some thing or get picked up by aliens.
While early telescopes were vital for showing astronomers the orbits of the planet, they were not able to provide much information about the planets themselves. As late as the 1950s, astronomers were making assumptions about the planets that could not be verified using telescopes-such as the possibility of vegetation on Mars and Venus. Only with the advent of space probes have learnt more of the truth about the solar system.
Different Duties
Others are called orbiters and are able to gather more detailed information about the planet because they can orbit it for a longer period of the time at a lower height. The probes that get closest to the planets are called landers. So far, probes have only landed on the Moon, Mars, and Venus, although the Galileo spacecraft dropped a small probe into ther glassy atmosphere of Jupiter.
Landers
Landers are the only human-made things to have touched down on the surface of the another planet in the Solar System. The soviet-built Luna 2 was the first space probe to touch the Moon's surface, although it didn't so much land as crash! Mars is the most visited of the worlds in our solar system. More eight probes have visited the red planet since 1965 and more are planned to go soon. Many probes have actually touched down on the surface to bring us back incredible information about the Planets's composition and environment. In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder probe landed on the northern hemisphere of Mars. It look the most detailed pictures of the planet to date.
Some More Facts
1) The Viking Probes visited Mars in 1976 in search of life. They conducted numerous tests on Martian of any living organism.
2) The Mariner 10 probe flew by Mercury 3 times in order to photograph the planet surface. It flew with in 327 Km of the planet but because of its flight path it could only photograph one half of mercury.
3) The Galileo Probe was not actually launched towards Jupiter, its target , but towards the sun. The Probe used the suns gravity to catapult it immense distances to Jupiter.
Beyond the planets
Four Probes are hurtling out beyond the planets as you read this. NASA's Jupiter and Saturn probes, Pioneer 1 and 2 flew by their respective planets and kept on going deep into the far reaches of our Solar System. Each carries an engraved plate that is a message for any extraterrestrial beings who finds them. The two Voyager Probes, launched in 1977, carry gold plated records containing sounds and images from earth. These probes will continue to head out of the solar system, measuring the extent of the Sun's Solar wind. They will eventually run out of power but will keep drifting until they break up, collide with some thing or get picked up by aliens.
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