http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/200...ever-flown.html
Full Version: Greatest Unmanned space probes !
LOL - a Top 10 that includes 15 spacecraft
Doug
Doug
WHAT!?!? no Giotto?
Well, my favorites are those who made it to the outer planets; Pioneers 10 & 11, Voyagers 1 & 2, Galileo, Cassini-Huyghens and New Horizons!
No Giotto, no MGS, no Stardust, no Deep Impact, no SOHO, no Pathfinder.....you could play that game all day.
Doug
Doug
QUOTE (djellison @ Nov 11 2007, 10:16 AM) 
No Giotto, no MGS, no Stardust, no Deep Impact, no SOHO, no Pathfinder.....you could play that game all day.
Doug
Doug
I think i'd put SOHO at number 1.
I have a special fondness for MGS.
For real. It's all really subjective, though.
Have to agree with the Voyagers & Vikings at the top of the list when it's all said & done. Those missions were transformational; they utterly changed the way that we think about the Solar System. Drilling down, Oppy utterly changed the way that we think about Mars yet again...maybe there should be a distinction made between pioneering efforts & next-generation exploration. In that light, NH & Dawn are likely to knock our socks off just like Voyager & Viking...
Have to agree with the Voyagers & Vikings at the top of the list when it's all said & done. Those missions were transformational; they utterly changed the way that we think about the Solar System. Drilling down, Oppy utterly changed the way that we think about Mars yet again...maybe there should be a distinction made between pioneering efforts & next-generation exploration. In that light, NH & Dawn are likely to knock our socks off just like Voyager & Viking...
Well, if this succeeds it will certainly be great:
The Voyagers are definitely #1 but there are other things I disagree with. I wouldn't put Galileo in a top 10 list due to its various problems (the HGA in particular) and Cassini possibly doesn't belong there either until it has finished its primary mission, even though it's been a spectacular success.
Also I'm not sure about the Vikings as #2. It's true that the landers were something new but it was really Mariner 9 that showed Mars wasn't as dull as the earlier Mariners had suggested.
I also think some lunar missions are missing, for example maybe the unmanned Soviet rovers/sample return missions
Mariner 10 should possibly be in a list like this.
Also I'm not sure about the Vikings as #2. It's true that the landers were something new but it was really Mariner 9 that showed Mars wasn't as dull as the earlier Mariners had suggested.
I also think some lunar missions are missing, for example maybe the unmanned Soviet rovers/sample return missions
Mariner 10 should possibly be in a list like this.
The problem with this concept is not just that we're comparing apples and oranges -- we're comparing apples, oranges, bananas, pears, strawberries and kumquats.
Apples: Doing *anything* first earns you a special place in a list like this -- which is why the lack of Luna 9, Lunar Orbiter 1, Luna 16 and Lunakhod 1 are somewhat glaring. Sounds like the author of the piece just plain isn't interested in the Moon, and therefore delegates lunar probes to a back seat. In a time when Apollo hadn't happened, the first good images of the Moon from the surface and from orbit were powerful, compelling, and scientifically important. There are tons more of these in this category -- Mariners 2, 4, 9 and 10, Lunas 2 and 3, Surveyor V... and many more than don't come to mind at the moment.
Oranges: Making major discoveries certainly distinguishes a mission. The Voyagers, Mariner 2 and Cassini certainly stand out in this category. So do the MERs. The Viking landers aren't at the head of this list, though -- they belong in the Apples group, but while they returned a lot of interesting data (and some great images), they didn't make any amazing new discoveries about the Martian surface. We already knew it was iron and sulphur rich, and there was nothing particularly surprising about finding a lot of iron-rich lavas covered with sulphate salts. The hydration/oxygenation in some of the materials was predictable, so even its (somewhat ambiguous) discovery wasn't all that much of a major thing. Mariner 9 and the Viking orbiters told us more about Mars than the landers did.
Bananas: Observing stars (our own and others) and celestial phenomenah is worth a mention, too. From OAO to WMAP, from OSO to Ulysses to SOHO, from Compton to Hubble to Spitzer -- these deserve recognition as great probes, too.
Pears: Missions that provide a (for want of a better term) spiritual satisfaction deserve a special category. The first views of a full Earth, the oblique view of Copernicus from L.O. 2, the first views from the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, the view of backlit Saturn and its rings in all their glories -- these are views that nourish the human spirit's need to explore. Almost every good mission has provided this to one degree or another... but some more than others.
Strawberries: Almost every mission returns more data than the last one. As time and technology progress, each new spacecraft is more capable than the last, each can return more data than the last, each is more productive than the last. By this standard, the most outstanding mission flown is usually the most recent one accomplished. (Differences in scope between Flagship missions, Discovery missions, etc., notwithstanding, that is.)
Kumquats: There is something to be said for the inherent interest generated by the body or bodies being studied or probed. If you feel that icy moons are inherently more interesting than rocky bodies, then you're going to be interested in Voyager, Galileo and Cassini data more than in Viking or Luna data... now, in my mind, there is no such thing as an uninteresting Solar System body, so I tend to discount this category as being much of an overall criterion. But that's me.
So -- maybe we ought to be nominating missions in categories like the ones above, rather than in an overall "10 Best" kind of format...?
-the other Doug
Apples: Doing *anything* first earns you a special place in a list like this -- which is why the lack of Luna 9, Lunar Orbiter 1, Luna 16 and Lunakhod 1 are somewhat glaring. Sounds like the author of the piece just plain isn't interested in the Moon, and therefore delegates lunar probes to a back seat. In a time when Apollo hadn't happened, the first good images of the Moon from the surface and from orbit were powerful, compelling, and scientifically important. There are tons more of these in this category -- Mariners 2, 4, 9 and 10, Lunas 2 and 3, Surveyor V... and many more than don't come to mind at the moment.
Oranges: Making major discoveries certainly distinguishes a mission. The Voyagers, Mariner 2 and Cassini certainly stand out in this category. So do the MERs. The Viking landers aren't at the head of this list, though -- they belong in the Apples group, but while they returned a lot of interesting data (and some great images), they didn't make any amazing new discoveries about the Martian surface. We already knew it was iron and sulphur rich, and there was nothing particularly surprising about finding a lot of iron-rich lavas covered with sulphate salts. The hydration/oxygenation in some of the materials was predictable, so even its (somewhat ambiguous) discovery wasn't all that much of a major thing. Mariner 9 and the Viking orbiters told us more about Mars than the landers did.
Bananas: Observing stars (our own and others) and celestial phenomenah is worth a mention, too. From OAO to WMAP, from OSO to Ulysses to SOHO, from Compton to Hubble to Spitzer -- these deserve recognition as great probes, too.
Pears: Missions that provide a (for want of a better term) spiritual satisfaction deserve a special category. The first views of a full Earth, the oblique view of Copernicus from L.O. 2, the first views from the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, the view of backlit Saturn and its rings in all their glories -- these are views that nourish the human spirit's need to explore. Almost every good mission has provided this to one degree or another... but some more than others.
Strawberries: Almost every mission returns more data than the last one. As time and technology progress, each new spacecraft is more capable than the last, each can return more data than the last, each is more productive than the last. By this standard, the most outstanding mission flown is usually the most recent one accomplished. (Differences in scope between Flagship missions, Discovery missions, etc., notwithstanding, that is.)
Kumquats: There is something to be said for the inherent interest generated by the body or bodies being studied or probed. If you feel that icy moons are inherently more interesting than rocky bodies, then you're going to be interested in Voyager, Galileo and Cassini data more than in Viking or Luna data... now, in my mind, there is no such thing as an uninteresting Solar System body, so I tend to discount this category as being much of an overall criterion. But that's me.
So -- maybe we ought to be nominating missions in categories like the ones above, rather than in an overall "10 Best" kind of format...?
-the other Doug
My particular favourite banana is Hipparcos.
Andy
Andy
Well, my favorites go something like this:
Sun SOHO (1996-2006 solar studies)
Mercury Mariner 10 (1974 triple visit)
Venus Magellan (1990 radar mapping)
Earth MetOp (2006 weather satellite in polar orbit)
Mars Viking 1 (1976 unique combination of an orbiter and 575 kg lander)
Jupiter Pioneer 10 (1973 first Jupiter flyby)
Saturn Cassini (2004 in orbit around the lord of the rings)
Uranus Voyager 2 (1986 first Uranus flyby)
Neptune Voyager 2 (1989 first Neptune flyby)
KBO NewHorizons (2015 first Pluto flyby)
Cometary Deep Impact (2005 impact on Temple1)
Sun SOHO (1996-2006 solar studies)
Mercury Mariner 10 (1974 triple visit)
Venus Magellan (1990 radar mapping)
Earth MetOp (2006 weather satellite in polar orbit)
Mars Viking 1 (1976 unique combination of an orbiter and 575 kg lander)
Jupiter Pioneer 10 (1973 first Jupiter flyby)
Saturn Cassini (2004 in orbit around the lord of the rings)
Uranus Voyager 2 (1986 first Uranus flyby)
Neptune Voyager 2 (1989 first Neptune flyby)
KBO NewHorizons (2015 first Pluto flyby)
Cometary Deep Impact (2005 impact on Temple1)
oDoug nailed it; there's just no way to do a meaningful comparison between missions, all it can turn into is a popularity contest modulated by personal interests & biases.
Now here's a possibly interesting question: how many lunar & planetary science missions have been launched to date? Just off the top of my head I think we're nowhere near the 100 mark (maybe not even fifty, but pretty close if not), and achieving those figures would be milestones of a sort...
Now here's a possibly interesting question: how many lunar & planetary science missions have been launched to date? Just off the top of my head I think we're nowhere near the 100 mark (maybe not even fifty, but pretty close if not), and achieving those figures would be milestones of a sort...
I very much agree with "the other Doug". Could it be because we're of the same generation 
?
Ah, the oblique view of Copernic! Truly inspiring.
I was in bed for a month just after Mariner 9 get to Mars and the storm setteled. I wish I have had the internet (and UMSF) at that time, but I had quite some riding and this was the new dawn of Mars.
I was in front of my TV when Giotto flew by Halley ...even if it took months to understand what we sew that night!
Pionner 10 &11 were great (actualy, I guess I already told you, Pionner 10 was launch the very same day I had my first driving lesson [she did much more kms actualy]). The Voyagers and specialy Voyager II have been the top of the top. We went there to better know 2 to 4 planets and, even if we learnt a lot, we discovered that their sattelites were incredibly various and different from each others. We just discovered a "new" solar system : this WAS exploration! And they're still alive!
Now the new standard are Spirit & Oppy, just because we have something new to tell nearly everyday.
There's nothing that equal the word "sattelite releases" when a space probe is launched. No matter where she goes.... and I hope N° 1 is still to come.
?Ah, the oblique view of Copernic! Truly inspiring.
I was in bed for a month just after Mariner 9 get to Mars and the storm setteled. I wish I have had the internet (and UMSF) at that time, but I had quite some riding and this was the new dawn of Mars.
I was in front of my TV when Giotto flew by Halley ...even if it took months to understand what we sew that night!
Pionner 10 &11 were great (actualy, I guess I already told you, Pionner 10 was launch the very same day I had my first driving lesson [she did much more kms actualy]). The Voyagers and specialy Voyager II have been the top of the top. We went there to better know 2 to 4 planets and, even if we learnt a lot, we discovered that their sattelites were incredibly various and different from each others. We just discovered a "new" solar system : this WAS exploration! And they're still alive!
Now the new standard are Spirit & Oppy, just because we have something new to tell nearly everyday.
There's nothing that equal the word "sattelite releases" when a space probe is launched. No matter where she goes.... and I hope N° 1 is still to come.
QUOTE (nprev @ Nov 12 2007, 09:09 PM)
Now here's a possibly interesting question: how many lunar & planetary science missions have been launched to date? Just off the top of my head I think we're nowhere near the 100 mark (maybe not even fifty, but pretty close if not), and achieving those figures would be milestones of a sort...
How do you want to do that ? I guess we'll have to count everything even if there's a mother ship with probe(s)
QUOTE (climber @ Nov 12 2007, 08:54 PM)
How do you want to do that ? I guess we'll have to count everything even if there's a mother ship with probe(s)
Well, just looking at an old list I had compiled in 2004, I count 80 truly successful planetary missions (counting any mission that leaves Earth orbit to study a Solar System body as a planetary mission), which does not include a number of recent successful missions:
USSR (25):
Luna 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17 (Lunakhod 1), 19, 20, 21 (Lunakhod 2), 22, 24
Vega 1, 2
Venera 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16
Zond 3
USA (48):
ACE
Deep Space 1
Cassini
ICE (ISEE-3)
Clementine
Galileo
Lunar Orbiter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Lunar Prospector
Magellan
Mariner 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Mars Global Surveyer
Mars Odyssey
Mars Pathfinder
MER -A, -B
NEAR
Pioneer 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Pioneer Venus 1, 2
Ranger 7, 8, 9
Stardust
Surveyer 1, 3, 5, 6, 7
Viking 1, 2
Voyager 1, 2
Wind
EU (6):
Giotto
Helios 1, 2
Mars Express
SOHO
Ulysses
Japan (1):
Suisei
And that's only counting the successes.
Bill
QUOTE (Mongo @ Nov 12 2007, 07:24 PM)
Japan (1):
Suisei
Suisei
You forgot Hayabusa (known affectionately here as 'It is Quick The ?').
No Lipovitan for you.
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Nov 13 2007, 04:16 AM)
You forgot Hayabusa. No Lipovitan for you.
This list was compiled back in 2004Bill
QUOTE (Mongo @ Nov 12 2007, 08:17 PM)
This list was compiled back in 2004
Time for an update?
Before I looked, I also put Voyager and Viking in the top two spots, but I made the choice of which specific craft in each mission.
Voyager 2
Viking 1 Lander
Cassini (even if it never returned another byte)
Mariner 2: So freakishly early, and the first big space race win for the US. The US didn't have another successful planetary flyby til the third calendar year after, and almost two years before the first successful US lunar mission.
Voyager 2
Viking 1 Lander
Cassini (even if it never returned another byte)
Mariner 2: So freakishly early, and the first big space race win for the US. The US didn't have another successful planetary flyby til the third calendar year after, and almost two years before the first successful US lunar mission.
Great list, Mongo!
A few updates, of course...
Japan: Kaguya, Hayabusa
ESA: SMART-1, Venus Express
China: Chang'e
U.S.A.: Messenger, New Horizons
For those last two -- OK, they haven't completed their missions, so we can't classify them automatically as "successes". But NH has already had a quite successful Jupiter encounter, and Messenger has done some nice work at Venus. I say we ought to count them -- and consider adding Rosetta to the ESA count, on the assumption that she'll hold together long enough to accomplish her extended mission.
I'm less certain about adding Dawn and Phoenix to America's talley; neither has actually done much data gathering yet. But they are in flight.
Anyone think of any more?
-the other Doug
A few updates, of course...
Japan: Kaguya, Hayabusa
ESA: SMART-1, Venus Express
China: Chang'e
U.S.A.: Messenger, New Horizons
For those last two -- OK, they haven't completed their missions, so we can't classify them automatically as "successes". But NH has already had a quite successful Jupiter encounter, and Messenger has done some nice work at Venus. I say we ought to count them -- and consider adding Rosetta to the ESA count, on the assumption that she'll hold together long enough to accomplish her extended mission.
I'm less certain about adding Dawn and Phoenix to America's talley; neither has actually done much data gathering yet. But they are in flight.
Anyone think of any more?
-the other Doug
I was thinking of a few others that didn't make the [EDIT: Bill's] list. Since SOHO is included (at L1), STEREO A and B should certainly be on the list since they are in heliocentric orbits. (Hinode should probably not be included since it never left Earth's gravity and remains in a sun synchronous orbit. If it is included, then all observatories would have to be included.) Genesis was a partial success, but it did fail to parachute at the end. Then again, we are still able to do science on the mission sample return. (Bill, I'll let you decide on this since it's your list.) And Deep Impact was a real bang.
I was also under the impression that Venera 9 was a complete success. Am I wrong on that?
USSR: Venera 9
US: STEREO A & B, Deep Impact
Questionable: Genesis
I was also under the impression that Venera 9 was a complete success. Am I wrong on that?
USSR: Venera 9
US: STEREO A & B, Deep Impact
Questionable: Genesis
Stereo may well become great - but I don't think we're there yet.
Doug
Doug
Sorry, but Zond 8 was a very successful mission (Zond 6 and 7 probably too).
Don P. Mitchell's "Soviet Moon Images" page
Mars 5 was also successful mission
Don P. Mitchell's "Soviet Mars Images" page
Don P. Mitchell's "Soviet Moon Images" page
Mars 5 was also successful mission
Don P. Mitchell's "Soviet Mars Images" page
QUOTE (dvandorn @ Nov 12 2007, 01:19 AM)
The problem with this concept is not just that we're comparing apples and oranges -- we're comparing apples, oranges, bananas, pears, strawberries and kumquats.....
....
Bananas: Observing stars (our own and others) and celestial phenomenah is worth a mention, too. From OAO to WMAP, from OSO to Ulysses to SOHO, from Compton to Hubble to Spitzer -- these deserve recognition as great probes, too
......
....
Bananas: Observing stars (our own and others) and celestial phenomenah is worth a mention, too. From OAO to WMAP, from OSO to Ulysses to SOHO, from Compton to Hubble to Spitzer -- these deserve recognition as great probes, too
......
I disagree that Earth-orbiting Observatories come under the category of 'Probes'. Indeed, I personally hesitate
at applying the term to interplanetary vehicles e.g. Cassini, but rather it should apply to 'in-situ' exploration.
(Doubtless particles-and-fields folk would consider them such in any case, so it is difficult to draw neat boundaries.)
Anyway, for me, and I think for Europe, Giotto was truly groundbreaking and it belongs on the list, but I
certainly have no quarrel with the Vikings and Voyagers being on the top, as someone said - truly transformational.
I'd venture Cassini-Huygens merits a place on the list even already, but I am biased.
QUOTE (djellison @ Nov 13 2007, 10:18 AM)
Stereo may well become great - but I don't think we're there yet.
Sorry if I was unclear, but those suggestions were for Bill's list of "successful missions". It would be foolish at this point to even speak of STEREO in the same breath as Voyager, Cassini, etc.
Maybe that's the right question to ask: What have been the most transformational (winces before using buzzword), paradigm-shifting UMSF missions? Quick list in chronological order:
Luna 3 (the dark side of the Moon doesn't look much like the side we see, but it is there, anyhow)
Mariner 2 (goodbye, swamps of Venus, and Heinlein's dragons...)
Mariner 4 (goodbye, Barsoom, and Willis...)
Surveyor 1 (goodbye, sharp lunar peaks & crusty lava surface)
Mariner 9 (hello, Olympus Mons & Valles Marineris!)
Viking 1 (finally, we see the Martian landscape, and it's not what we expected)
Voyager 1 (the Jovian moons are not simple iceballs, Io is flabbergasting, and Titan's atmosphere blows us all away)
Voyager 2 (the Uranian moons are enigmatic, Triton is most definitely not a simple iceball as well, and it looks like all gas giants have rings...)
Opportunity (there really ARE places on Mars after all that look like Saudi Arabia, and sedimentary rock to boot!)
Cassini/Huygens (too many things to list)
Strongly suspect that both Dawn & NH will make this list as well...
Luna 3 (the dark side of the Moon doesn't look much like the side we see, but it is there, anyhow)
Mariner 2 (goodbye, swamps of Venus, and Heinlein's dragons...)
Mariner 4 (goodbye, Barsoom, and Willis...)
Surveyor 1 (goodbye, sharp lunar peaks & crusty lava surface)
Mariner 9 (hello, Olympus Mons & Valles Marineris!)
Viking 1 (finally, we see the Martian landscape, and it's not what we expected)
Voyager 1 (the Jovian moons are not simple iceballs, Io is flabbergasting, and Titan's atmosphere blows us all away)
Voyager 2 (the Uranian moons are enigmatic, Triton is most definitely not a simple iceball as well, and it looks like all gas giants have rings...)
Opportunity (there really ARE places on Mars after all that look like Saudi Arabia, and sedimentary rock to boot!)
Cassini/Huygens (too many things to list)
Strongly suspect that both Dawn & NH will make this list as well...
QUOTE (Mongo @ Nov 12 2007, 08:17 PM)
This list was compiled back in 2004
Bill
Bill
Dan, don't be denyin' the man his Liptovan!
Terrific list, Bill, thank you!
While rooting through my document folders, I came across this list compiled in 2005, my personal year-by-year "Hall of Fame" of plantary encounters. Particles and fields spacecraft are eligible for "voting" the year they are launched, the planetary probes are eligible the year they reach the listed target.
1958 Explorer 1 (Particles and Fields - 1958 - discovered Van Allen radiation belts around Earth)
1959 Luna 3 (Lunar flyby - 1959 - 17 images covered 70% of farside)
1960 Pioneer 5 (Particles and Fields - 1960 - discovered interplanetary magnetic fields)
1961 Luna 2 (Lunar impactor - 1959 - discovered lack of strong Lunar magnetic field or radiation belt)
1962 Mariner 2 (Venus flyby - 1962 - first survey of atmosphere)
1963 Explorer 12 (Particles and Fields - 1961 - detailed study of Earth magnetosphere)
1964 Ranger 7 (Lunar impacter -1964 - 4316 TV images sent before impact on nearside)
1965 Mariner 4 (Mars flyby - 1965 - 21 images of surface)
1966 Luna 9 (Lunar lander - 1966 - 9 images (including 5 panoramas) from the surface)
1967 Venera 4 (Venus atmospheric probe - 1967 - first in-situ analysis of atmosphere)
1968 Luna 10 (Lunar orbiter - 1966 - discovered mascons, weak magnetic field, weak radiation belt)
1969 Surveyer 1 (Lunar lander - 1966 - 11350 TV images from the surface)
1970 Venera 7 (Venus surface probe - 1970 - first in-situ analysis of surface-level atmospheric conditions)
1971 Mariner 9 (Mars orbiter - 1971 - 7329 images showing 85% of Mars at 1 km to 2 km resolution)
1972 Luna 16 (Lunar lander / sample return - 1970 - 105 grams of soil returned to Earth)
1973 Luna 17 / Lunakhod 1 (Lunar lander / rover - 1970 - rover drove 10.54 km, took 206 hi-resolution panoramas, 25 soil analyses)
1974 Mariner 10 (3 Mercury flybys - 1974-75 - first survey of Mercury)
1975 Venera 9+10 (2 Venus surface probes - 1975 - first and second images from surface, chemical analysis of surface)
1976 Viking 1+2 (2 Mars orbiters / 2 landers - 1976 - high-quality orbital imagery, panoramas of surface, chemical analyses of soil, biological experiments)
1977 Lunar Orbiter 1 (Lunar orbiter - 1966 - 207 images from orbit)
1978 Pioneer Venus 1+2 (Venus orbiter, 4 atmospheric probes - 1978 - first topographic radar map of surface, UV imagery of cloud structures, simultaneous atmospheric analysis from 4 locations)
1979 Voyager 1+2 (2 Jupiter flybys - 1979 - first detailed surveys of Jupiter and major moons)
1980 Luna 21 / Lunakhod 2 (Lunar lander / rover - 1973 - rover drove >10 km, took 86 hi-resolution panoramas, >100 soil analyses)
1981 Voyager 1+2 (2 Saturn flybys - 1979-81 - first detailed surveys of Saturn and major moons, discovered G Ring)
1982 Venera 13+14 (2 Venus surface probes - 1982 - soil analysis, first and second colour images from surface)
1983 Venera 15+16 (2 Venus radar orbiters - 1983 - high-resolution radar imagery of northern regions)
1984 Pioneer 10+11 (2 Jupiter flybys - 1973 - first surveys of Jupiter system)
1985 Vega 1+2 (2 Venus landers / 2 balloons - 1985 - detailed atmospheric analysis, soil analysis)
1986 Giotto (P/Halley flyby - 1986 - 605 km distance, ~2000 images)
1987 Voyager 2 (Uranus flyby - 1986 - first survey of Uranus system)
1988 Vega 1+2 (2 P/Halley flybys - 1986 - 8889 km distance (Vega 1), >1200 images)
1989 Voyager 2 (Neptune flyby - 1989 - first survey of Neptune system, Triton)
1990 Magellan (Venus radar orbiter - 1990 - very-high-resolution global radar map)
1991 Pioneer 6+7+8+9 (Particles and Fields - 1965-68 - 4 stations in interplanetary fields observation network)
1992 Ulysses (Particles and Fields - 1990 - deep survey of polar regions of solar wind, magnetic field)
1993 Galileo (Gaspra flyby - 1991 - 1604 km distance, 150 images)
1994 Clementine (Lunar orbiter - 1994 - first global survey, discovered ice in south polar region)
1995 Galileo (Jupiter orbiter / entry probe - 1995 - first atmospheric probe of Jupiter, high-resolution imagery of major moons)
1996 SOHO (Sun - 1996 - located at L1 libration point, multi-wavelength observations of the Sun)
1997 Pathfinder / Sojourner (Mars lander / rover - 1997 - first rover on Mars, chemical analysis of soil, rocks)
1998 Lunar Prospector (Lunar orbiter - 1998 - first complete compositional and gravity maps)
1999 Mars Global Surveyer (Mars orbiter - 1997 - very-high-quality orbital imagery)
2000 NEAR (Eros orbiter - 2000 - soft-landed in 2001)
2001 Mars Odyssey (Mars orbiter - 2001 - geophysical survey of entire surface)
2002 Deep Space 1 (P/Borrelly flyby - 2001 - images, IR spectra)
2003 Mars Express (Mars orbiter - 2003 - targeted ultra-high-resolution imaging of surface)
2004 MER A+B (2 Mars rovers - 2004 - extensive surface analysis and imagery, discovered evidence of former standing liquid water)
2005 Cassini Huygens (Saturn orbiter / Titan surface probe - 2004-05 - in-depth analysis of Saturn, moons, rings, first view from surface of Titan)
The ranked list of top "also-rans" for the 2005 "voting":
2. Stardust (P/Wild-2 sample return - 2004 - high-resolution images of nucleus)
3. Helios 1+2 (Particles and Fields - 1974-76 - monitored solar wind, magnetic field, etc, from 0.30 AU and 0.29 AU orbits)
4. ISEE-3 (Particles and Fields - 1978 - 3 years at L1 libration point, followed by deep survey of Earths geotail)
5. Hayabusa (Itokawa sample return - 2005 - smallest asteroid encounter to date)
6. Deep Impact (P/Temple-1 impacter - 2005 - high-resolution images of nucleus)
7. Pioneer 11 (Saturn flyby - 1979 - first survey of Saturn system, discovered F Ring)
8. Galileo (Ida flyby - 1993 - 2410 km distance)
9. NEAR (Mathilde flyby - 1997 - 1200 km distance, 60% coverage)
Bill
1958 Explorer 1 (Particles and Fields - 1958 - discovered Van Allen radiation belts around Earth)
1959 Luna 3 (Lunar flyby - 1959 - 17 images covered 70% of farside)
1960 Pioneer 5 (Particles and Fields - 1960 - discovered interplanetary magnetic fields)
1961 Luna 2 (Lunar impactor - 1959 - discovered lack of strong Lunar magnetic field or radiation belt)
1962 Mariner 2 (Venus flyby - 1962 - first survey of atmosphere)
1963 Explorer 12 (Particles and Fields - 1961 - detailed study of Earth magnetosphere)
1964 Ranger 7 (Lunar impacter -1964 - 4316 TV images sent before impact on nearside)
1965 Mariner 4 (Mars flyby - 1965 - 21 images of surface)
1966 Luna 9 (Lunar lander - 1966 - 9 images (including 5 panoramas) from the surface)
1967 Venera 4 (Venus atmospheric probe - 1967 - first in-situ analysis of atmosphere)
1968 Luna 10 (Lunar orbiter - 1966 - discovered mascons, weak magnetic field, weak radiation belt)
1969 Surveyer 1 (Lunar lander - 1966 - 11350 TV images from the surface)
1970 Venera 7 (Venus surface probe - 1970 - first in-situ analysis of surface-level atmospheric conditions)
1971 Mariner 9 (Mars orbiter - 1971 - 7329 images showing 85% of Mars at 1 km to 2 km resolution)
1972 Luna 16 (Lunar lander / sample return - 1970 - 105 grams of soil returned to Earth)
1973 Luna 17 / Lunakhod 1 (Lunar lander / rover - 1970 - rover drove 10.54 km, took 206 hi-resolution panoramas, 25 soil analyses)
1974 Mariner 10 (3 Mercury flybys - 1974-75 - first survey of Mercury)
1975 Venera 9+10 (2 Venus surface probes - 1975 - first and second images from surface, chemical analysis of surface)
1976 Viking 1+2 (2 Mars orbiters / 2 landers - 1976 - high-quality orbital imagery, panoramas of surface, chemical analyses of soil, biological experiments)
1977 Lunar Orbiter 1 (Lunar orbiter - 1966 - 207 images from orbit)
1978 Pioneer Venus 1+2 (Venus orbiter, 4 atmospheric probes - 1978 - first topographic radar map of surface, UV imagery of cloud structures, simultaneous atmospheric analysis from 4 locations)
1979 Voyager 1+2 (2 Jupiter flybys - 1979 - first detailed surveys of Jupiter and major moons)
1980 Luna 21 / Lunakhod 2 (Lunar lander / rover - 1973 - rover drove >10 km, took 86 hi-resolution panoramas, >100 soil analyses)
1981 Voyager 1+2 (2 Saturn flybys - 1979-81 - first detailed surveys of Saturn and major moons, discovered G Ring)
1982 Venera 13+14 (2 Venus surface probes - 1982 - soil analysis, first and second colour images from surface)
1983 Venera 15+16 (2 Venus radar orbiters - 1983 - high-resolution radar imagery of northern regions)
1984 Pioneer 10+11 (2 Jupiter flybys - 1973 - first surveys of Jupiter system)
1985 Vega 1+2 (2 Venus landers / 2 balloons - 1985 - detailed atmospheric analysis, soil analysis)
1986 Giotto (P/Halley flyby - 1986 - 605 km distance, ~2000 images)
1987 Voyager 2 (Uranus flyby - 1986 - first survey of Uranus system)
1988 Vega 1+2 (2 P/Halley flybys - 1986 - 8889 km distance (Vega 1), >1200 images)
1989 Voyager 2 (Neptune flyby - 1989 - first survey of Neptune system, Triton)
1990 Magellan (Venus radar orbiter - 1990 - very-high-resolution global radar map)
1991 Pioneer 6+7+8+9 (Particles and Fields - 1965-68 - 4 stations in interplanetary fields observation network)
1992 Ulysses (Particles and Fields - 1990 - deep survey of polar regions of solar wind, magnetic field)
1993 Galileo (Gaspra flyby - 1991 - 1604 km distance, 150 images)
1994 Clementine (Lunar orbiter - 1994 - first global survey, discovered ice in south polar region)
1995 Galileo (Jupiter orbiter / entry probe - 1995 - first atmospheric probe of Jupiter, high-resolution imagery of major moons)
1996 SOHO (Sun - 1996 - located at L1 libration point, multi-wavelength observations of the Sun)
1997 Pathfinder / Sojourner (Mars lander / rover - 1997 - first rover on Mars, chemical analysis of soil, rocks)
1998 Lunar Prospector (Lunar orbiter - 1998 - first complete compositional and gravity maps)
1999 Mars Global Surveyer (Mars orbiter - 1997 - very-high-quality orbital imagery)
2000 NEAR (Eros orbiter - 2000 - soft-landed in 2001)
2001 Mars Odyssey (Mars orbiter - 2001 - geophysical survey of entire surface)
2002 Deep Space 1 (P/Borrelly flyby - 2001 - images, IR spectra)
2003 Mars Express (Mars orbiter - 2003 - targeted ultra-high-resolution imaging of surface)
2004 MER A+B (2 Mars rovers - 2004 - extensive surface analysis and imagery, discovered evidence of former standing liquid water)
2005 Cassini Huygens (Saturn orbiter / Titan surface probe - 2004-05 - in-depth analysis of Saturn, moons, rings, first view from surface of Titan)
The ranked list of top "also-rans" for the 2005 "voting":
2. Stardust (P/Wild-2 sample return - 2004 - high-resolution images of nucleus)
3. Helios 1+2 (Particles and Fields - 1974-76 - monitored solar wind, magnetic field, etc, from 0.30 AU and 0.29 AU orbits)
4. ISEE-3 (Particles and Fields - 1978 - 3 years at L1 libration point, followed by deep survey of Earths geotail)
5. Hayabusa (Itokawa sample return - 2005 - smallest asteroid encounter to date)
6. Deep Impact (P/Temple-1 impacter - 2005 - high-resolution images of nucleus)
7. Pioneer 11 (Saturn flyby - 1979 - first survey of Saturn system, discovered F Ring)
8. Galileo (Ida flyby - 1993 - 2410 km distance)
9. NEAR (Mathilde flyby - 1997 - 1200 km distance, 60% coverage)
Bill
Nice listing Bill, after 31 years I can finally say I have for each spacecraft at least one high-resolution image 
Bill, what do you mean by Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1977 ?
QUOTE (climber @ Nov 13 2007, 08:26 PM)
Bill, what do you mean by Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1977 ?
The first year date is the year that the mission made it to my "Hall of Fame" -- the actual year that the orbiter reached the moon (1966) is the second year date. The idea is that I am choosing the best mission -- from the HoF year or any earlier year -- that is not already in the HoF. I had limited myself to one choice per "year", starting in 1958, but of course some years had multiple worthy missions, and other years had none, so it seemed fairest to allow missions from previous years to still be eligible.
Bill
nice digital versions: http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/spacecraft.php
IMO Voyager 2 alone is at number one, and the Voyagers combined trump everything else by a huge margin.
Let me list just a few reasons.....
Four planet reconnaissance, discovery of more moons than any other spacecraft or individual in history.
Discovery of numerous hitherto unknown planetary rings.
Sub-10km resolution views of 20-25 natural satellites never before seen, some of these down to 600m resolution
Detailed views of 4 planetary atmospheres, and four planetary ring systems.
Confirmation of gas giant lightning and detailed probing of planetary magnetospheres, numerous valuable occultations of atmospheres and rings, and the discovery of the solar system's only active volcanoes and geysers outside of Earth's.
Introduction to the scientific community, of shepherding satellites, ring spokes, Io's sodium torus, and planetary ring arcs (suspected pre-voyager I know). providing tantalising hints of sub-surface ocans on Europa and methane near its triple point on Titan.
Not only that, but both are still operative and returning data on the heliosheath and heliopause, having been in continuous operation for over 30 years - I don't know of many other machines that function without pause for over three decades.
This is a no-brainer surely....
Let me list just a few reasons.....
Four planet reconnaissance, discovery of more moons than any other spacecraft or individual in history.
Discovery of numerous hitherto unknown planetary rings.
Sub-10km resolution views of 20-25 natural satellites never before seen, some of these down to 600m resolution
Detailed views of 4 planetary atmospheres, and four planetary ring systems.
Confirmation of gas giant lightning and detailed probing of planetary magnetospheres, numerous valuable occultations of atmospheres and rings, and the discovery of the solar system's only active volcanoes and geysers outside of Earth's.
Introduction to the scientific community, of shepherding satellites, ring spokes, Io's sodium torus, and planetary ring arcs (suspected pre-voyager I know). providing tantalising hints of sub-surface ocans on Europa and methane near its triple point on Titan.
Not only that, but both are still operative and returning data on the heliosheath and heliopause, having been in continuous operation for over 30 years - I don't know of many other machines that function without pause for over three decades.
This is a no-brainer surely....
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