Space Missions

1. Human Spaceflight Missions

Apollo Program (NASA, USA)

• Goal: Land humans on the Moon and return them safely

• Highlight: Apollo 11 (1969) – First human Moon landing (Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin)

Space Shuttle Program (NASA, USA)

• Goal: Reusable spacecraft for orbital missions (1981–2011)

• Notable Missions: Hubble repair (STS-61), International Space Station construction

International Space Station (ISS)

• Goal: Multinational orbiting laboratory (U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan, Canada)

• Started: 1998 – Still operational

• Missions: Ongoing crew rotations and scientific research

Shenzhou Program (China)

• Goal: Chinese human spaceflight missions

• Highlight: Tiangong space station now hosts long-term crewed operations

2. Robotic and Satellite Missions

Voyager 1 & 2 (NASA, 1977)

• Goal: Explore the outer planets

• Status: Still transmitting data from interstellar space

Hubble Space Telescope (1990–present)

• Goal: Deep space imaging from low Earth orbit

• Contribution: Revolutionized our understanding of galaxies, dark matter, and stellar formation

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, 2021–)

• Goal: Observe early universe, exoplanets, and distant galaxies in infrared

• Capabilities: Surpasses Hubble in depth and resolution

3. Lunar Missions

Luna Program (Soviet Union, 1959–1976)

• First unmanned Moon landings and robotic sample returns

Artemis Program (NASA, 2022–present)

• Goal: Return humans to the Moon and establish a long-term lunar base

• Upcoming: Artemis II – first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo

Chandrayaan Program (India)

• Chandrayaan-1: Discovered water on the Moon

• Chandrayaan-3 (2023): Successful landing near the Moon’s south pole

4. Planetary Exploration

Mars Missions

• Curiosity (NASA): Exploring Martian terrain since 2012

• Perseverance (NASA): Collecting rock samples and testing drone flight

• Tianwen-1 (China): Combined orbiter, lander, and rover

• ExoMars (ESA/Roscosmos): Planned future European rover mission

Juno (NASA)

• Goal: Study Jupiter’s structure, atmosphere, and magnetic field

Cassini-Huygens (NASA/ESA)

• Explored Saturn and its rings and moons

• Huygens probe landed on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon

5. Comet and Asteroid Missions

Rosetta (ESA)

• First mission to orbit and land a probe (Philae) on a comet

OSIRIS-REx (NASA)

• Collected surface samples from asteroid Bennu and returned them in 2023

DART (NASA, 2022)

• Tested asteroid deflection by crashing a spacecraft into a moonlet, Dimorphos

6. Commercial and Private Missions

SpaceX

• Crew Dragon: Sends astronauts to the ISS

• Starship: In development for Moon and Mars missions

• Falcon 9: Most successful reusable rocket platform to date

Blue Origin

• New Shepard: Suborbital space tourism

• Future plans include orbital missions and lunar transport

Virgin Galactic

• Offers space tourism using a rocket-powered spaceplane (VSS Unity)