Infrastructure
Planetary Science
2005 – Probes
Currently, ## scientific satellites are in orbit around the Earth. These satellites address a wide array of scientific issues. For example, NASA characterizes scientific satellites by the following types: astronomy, earth…
2005 – Landers/Rovers
Surface systems are those systems that operate on the surface of a planet. Current operational surface systems include the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. These…
2007 – Probes
There are ## scientific satellites in orbit around Earth, as designated by the AGI satellite database. This number may vary slightly by source, as some satellites may be alternatively classified…
2007 – Landers/Rovers
Surface systems include all systems that operate on the surface of an asteroid, comet, or planet other than Earth, for instance, NASA’s Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The planned 90-day…
2008 – Probes
Other Earth-observing and space probe scientific payloads accounted for 10 payloads launched in 2008. These included NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), designed to image the boundary between the solar system…
2008 – Landers/Rovers
Some space systems are designed to operate on a surface other than Earth, such as an asteroid, a comet, the Moon, or another planet. Two well-known examples of these so-called…
2009 – Landers/Rovers
Space surface systems are designed to operate on planets and other extraterrestrial bodies including the Moon, asteroids, and comets. Two well-known examples of these surface systems are the NASA Mars…
2010 – Ground Observatories, Astronomy
Ground-based observatories are essential tools to aid astronomers in their study of objects that can be as close as our neighboring planets or billions of light years away. Scientists are…
2010 – Probes
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft was launched in March 2009 aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Kepler’s mission is to monitor the brightness of more than 100,000…
2010 – Landers/Rovers
While ground-based telescopes and orbiting spacecraft can provide many kinds of new information, different insights are possible when physically present on other bodies in the Solar System. A number of…