Current Missions
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Missions Currently in Progress
1. Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) to study the flow of energetic particles from the Sun and provide space weather information.
2. Cassini Solstice Mission a mission run by NASA , the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency to study Saturn and its largest moon, Titan. The spacecraft is now currently studying the Saturn system.
3. Chandra X-Ray Observatory to study the universe in the x-ray wavelength.
4. Chandrayaan-1 Mission a moon mapping mission launched on October 22, 2008 by India
5. COROT Mission a mission approved and funded by the French Space Agency (CNES) to search for rocky planets around other stars.
6. Dawn Mission a NASA mission to study the asteroid belt including the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn spacecraft will reach Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015.
7. Epoxi Mission formerly known as the Deep Impact mission, the spacecraft is now being directed to aim its largest telescope at 5 nearby stars with "transiting exoplanets" in an effort to find other exosolar planets.
8. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope formerly called GLAST, this mission which was launched June 11, 2008 will enable scientists to study black holes, study subatomic particles and learn more about the birth and early evolution of the universe.
9. Galaxy Evolution Explorer Mission (GALEX) an orbiting telescope to observe millions of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history. Mission was launched in April 2003 and is still operating as an extended mission.
10. GRAIL Mission a mission involving twin spacecraft to orbit and study the moon and measure its gravity field. Mission was launched on September 10, 2011.
11. Herschel Space Observatory a European Space Agency mission launched on May 14, 2009. The space-based observatory will study the formation of galaxies and the creration of stars.
12. Hubble Space Telescope a cooperative program of the European Space Agency and NASA to study the stars, planets and galaxies by the use of an orbitingt space telescope.
13. IBEX - Interstellar Boundary Explorer a mission designed to study the interstellar boundaries that separate our heliosphere from the local interstellar medium.
14. International Space Station an orbiting space station designed to study our planet.
15. Juno Mission a NASA New Frontiers mission. Juno will investigate Jupiter's origins, internal structure, etc. Launched on August 5, 2011. Will arrive at Jupiter in July 2016.
16. Kepler Mission a NASA mission to survey our solar neighborhood to detect Earth-sized and larger planets in or near what scientists call the habitable zone. Launched March 6, 2009.
17. 2001 Mars Odyssey an orbiting spacecraft that is designed to detect water and shallow buried ice on Mars. Launched on April 7, 2001 and arrived at Mars on October 24, 2001. The spacecraft is currently in its extended mission.
18. Mars Exploration Rover Mission a mission with two rover landers, Spirit and Opportunity to study the surface of Mars.
19. Mars Express Mission a European Space Agency mission to study the atmosphere and surface of Mars and to search for evidence of life, past or present. Launched on June 2, 2003 and went into orbit around Mars on December 25, 2003.
20. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter the spacecraft designed to go into low orbit around Mars will examine the planet in great detail and provide more data than we ever got from all previous Mars missions. Launched on August 12, 2005 and went into orbit around Mars in March 2006.
21. Mars Science Laboratory a mission which carries a car-sized rover named Curiosity to the planet Mars to see if that planet could have had life in the past or still does. Mission was launched November 26, 2011.
22. Mercury Messenger a NASA Discovery mission to orbit the planet Mercury and make a detailed study of this planet closest to the Sun. Launched on August 3, 2004. Has gone into orbit around Mercury on March 17, 2011.
23. New Horizons a spacecraft mission to study the dwarf planet Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. The mission was launched in January 19, 2006 and is due to arrive at Pluto in 2015.
24. Planck Mission a European Space Agency mission launched on May 14, 2009. The mission will test theories of the early universe and origin of cosmic structure.
25. Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) this mission is designed to investigate the physics of particle acceleration and energy release in solar flares and observe X-ray and gamma ray emissions.
26. Rosetta Mission a European Space Agency mission to study the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Mission was launched on March 2, 2004 and will end on December 2015.
27. Solar Dynamics Observatory a NASA mission designed to help us understand the Sun's influence on Earth and Near-Earth space. Launched on February 11, 2010.
28. Spitzer Space Telescope the Spitzer Space Telescope will be able to image space objects by detecting the infrared wavelengths. Launched on August 25, 2003.
29. Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) a European Space Agency mission to study the Sun and the solar wind. Launched on December 2, 1995.
30. Trace Mission (Transition Region and Coronal Explorer) a NASA Small Explorer mission to image the solar corona and transition region at high angular and temporal resolution. Launched in April 1998.
31. Venus Express a European Space Agency mission to explore the planet Venus. Launched on November 9, 2005, the spacecraft arrived at Venus on April 11, 2006 and is currently studying the planet.
32. Voyager Mission Voyagers 1 & 2 which made a flyby of the outer planets is more than 90 AU or 8.4 billion miles from the Sun and is still heading out of the solar system. Spacecraft were launched in 1977.
33. Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) WISE will map the sky in infrared light searching for the nearest and coolest stars, the origins of stellar and planetary systems and the most luminous galaxies in the universe. Launched on December 14, 2009.
34. Wind Spacecraft to measure the incoming solar wind, magnetic fields and particles. Launched on November 1, 1994.