Current Missions
* Current missions are listed from earliest launch to most recent.

Voyager to the outer planets Launches: August 20 and September 5, 1977    The twin spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 flew by and observed Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune. Both craft are now heading out of the solar system. In 1998, Voyager 1 became the most distant human-made object in space. Voyager home page Voyager, the Grandest Tour Mission description

Ulysses solar polar mission Launch: October 6, 1990    A joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, Ulysses for the first time sent a spacecraft out of the ecliptic - the plane in which Earth and other planets orbit the Sun - to study the Sun's north and south poles. The prime mission concluded in 1995 but Ulysses continued to monitor the Sun. Ulysses home page Mission description

Wide Field and Planetary Camera Launches: April 24, 1990; December 2, 1993    These two instruments have served as the main camera capturing pictures on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. When an optical flaw was discovered in Hubble's main mirror, JPL's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 corrected the space telescope's vision and saved the mission. Mission Description

Topex/Poseidon Launch: August 10, 1992    A joint effort between NASA and France's National Center for Space Studies, this satellite mission measures sea level every 10 days. This mission allows scientists to chart the height of the seas across ocean basins with an accuracy of less than 10 centimeters (4 inches), affording a unique view of ocean phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña. Ocean Surface Topography home page Mission description

Mars Global Surveyor Launch: November 7, 1996     This orbiter has studied the entire Martian surface, atmosphere and interior, and has returned more data about the red planet than all other Mars missions combined. Among key science findings so far, Global Surveyor has taken pictures of gullies and debris flow features that suggest there may be current sources of liquid water, similar to an aquifer, at or near the surface of the planet. Global Surveyor home page Mission description

Cassini-Huygens to Saturn Launch: October 15, 1997     A joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, Cassini arrived at Saturn in June 2004 carrying a record number of 12 instruments. The mission is an intensive study of Saturn's rings, its moons and magnetosphere. Cassini is carrying a probe named Huygens that will descend to the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in January 2005. Cassini home page Mission description

Stardust Launch: February 7, 1999    The Stardust spacecraft successfully flew through the cloud of dust that surrounds the nucleus of comet Wild-2 and gathered a sample of cometary material. Stardust will return the sample to Earth in 2006. Stardust home page Mission description

Quick Scatterometer Launch: June 19, 1999    This ocean-observing satellite carries an instrument called a scatterometer, which operates by sending radar pulses to the ocean surface and measuring the "backscattered" or echoed radar pulses bounced back to the satellite. This instrument can acquire hundreds of times more observations of surface wind velocity each day than can ships and buoys. Seawinds home page Mission description

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Launch: December 18, 1999    This imaging instrument flying on NASA's Terra satellite is designed to obtain high-resolution global, regional and local views of Earth in 14 color bands. Mission home page Mission description

Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer Launch: December 18, 1999    Carried onboard NASA's Terra satellite, this instrument is a sophisticated imaging system that collects images from nine widely spaced angles as it glides above Earth. Instrument home page Mission description

Active Cavity Irradiance Monitor Satellite Launch: December 20, 1999    This satellite is designed to monitor the total amount of the Sun's energy reaching Earth. These data will help climatologists improve their predictions of climate change and global warming over the next century. Satellite home page Mission description

Keck Interferometer First light: March 2001    The Keck Interferometer links two 10-meter (33-foot) telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The linked telescopes form the world's most powerful optical telescope system. They will be used to search for planets around nearby stars, as part of NASA's quest to find habitable, Earth-like planets. Telescope home page

2001 Mars Odyssey Launch: April 7, 2001    Mars Odyssey is an orbiting spacecraft designed to determine the composition of the martian surface, to detect water and shallow buried ice, and to study the radiation environment. Odyssey home page Mission description

Jason 1 Launch: December 7, 2001    This oceanography mission is a follow-up to Topex/Poseidon and will monitor global ocean circulation, discover the tie between the oceans and atmosphere, improve global climate predictions, and monitor events such as El Niño. Jason home page Mission description

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Launch: Mar. 17, 2002    This joint U.S.-German mission consists of two spacecraft flying in tandem to measure Earth's gravitational field very precisely. This will enable a better understanding of ocean surface currents and ocean heat transport. Grace home page Mission description

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Launch: May 4, 2002    This instrument flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite to make highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperatures. Instrument home page Mission description

Galaxy Evolution Explorer Launch: April 28, 2003    This mission uses ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the history of star formation 80 percent of the way back to the Big Bang. Galex home page Mission description

Mars Exploration Rovers First rover launch: June 10, 2003. Second rover launch: July 7, 2003    Two rovers, working on opposite sides of Mars, successfully completed their primary mission in April 2004. By that time, NASA's Opportunity rover had discovered evidence in rocks' composition and textures indicating that a body of salty water had once flowed gently across the area where it had landed. Spirit drove more than 3 kilometers (2 miles) to reach a range of low hills where it found exposed bedrock to examine. As of September 2004, both rovers are now in extended missions. Mars Exploration Rover home page Mission description

Spitzer Space Telescope Launch: August 25, 2003, Eastern time (August 24, Pacific time)    Formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, this mission is using infrared technology to study celestial objects that are too cool, too dust-enshrouded or too far away to otherwise be seen. Spitzer, along with the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, are all part of NASA's Great Observatories Program. Mission home page Mission description

Microwave Instrument on the Rosetta Orbiter Launch: Mar. 2, 2004    The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. While Rosetta orbits the comet, JPL's Microwave Instrument onboard the spacecraft will study gases given off by the comet. Rosetta home page Instrument description

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer    Launch: July 15, 2004    This instrument, which flies aboard NASA's Aura spacecraft, is an infrared sensor designed to study Earth's troposphere -- the lowest region of our atmosphere -- and look at ozone. Instrument home page Instrument description

Microwave Limb Sounder    Launch: July 15, 2004    This instrument, which flies aboard NASA's Aura spacecraft, is designed to improve our understanding of ozone, especially how it is depleted by processes of chlorine chemistry. Instrument home page Instrument description

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