(Flyby) New Horizons
The New Horizons spacecraft was launched by NASA in January 2006 (NASA, New Horizon, online). It used Jupiter to gain a gravity boost and carried out scientific studies of Jupiter. New Horizons carried out a flyby study of Pluto and moons in mid-2015. Next came the close approach flyby of Pluto itself on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft will carry out an extended mission in which it will travel out to the Kuiper Belt (which is more than 1 billion miles beyond Pluto's orbit).
(Orbiter) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter left Cape Canaveral in 2005 to survey the surface of Mars. After a seven-month voyage this vehicle began its research into the history of water on Mars. Its instruments zoomed in for close-up views of the Martian surface, recording how both dust and water were distributed. It looks for evidence of subsurface water, indirectly analyzing minerals and Mars weather. The mission has been extended twice.
(Lander) Curiosity
Curiosity is a Mars lander launched by NASA in November 2011 that landed on Mars in 2012. Curiosity studies Mars weather, geology and whether Mars might have possessed climatic conditions conducive to the existence of life. The lander has investigated how water has played a role in the history of Mars. The Curiosity mission also has the goal of determining whether Mars might be suitable for later human exploration or habitation. As of this time, Curiosity is still in operation.
(Sample Return) Stardust
The Stardust spacecraft was a 1/4 ton probe that NASA launched in February 1999. Its principal goal was to collect samples of dust from the tale of a comet (Wild 2). It was also designed to gather samples of cosmic dust as well. The craft also did a flyby of an asteroid (asteroid 5535). After completing its mission, it returned the samples to Earth on January 5 of 2006.
Works Cited
NASA. “Curiosity. ” NASA Mission Pages. Online. Accessed 1/12/2016.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
NASA. “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.” NASA Mission Pages. Online. Accessed 1/12/2016. http://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mission/overview/
NASA. “New Horizons Page.” NASA Mission Pages. Online. Accessed 1/12/2016. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
NASA. "Stardust." Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Online. Accessed 1/12/2016. http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
