A space probe is a scientific space exploration mission in which a spacecraft leaves Earth and explores space. It may approach the Moon; enter interplanetary space; flyby, orbit or land on other planetary bodies; or approach interstellar space. Space probes are a form of robotic spacecraft. The Voyager 1 is one of the most famous space probes.
See list of probes by operational status for a list of active probes; the space agencies of the USSR (now Russia and Ukraine), the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and India have in the aggregate launched probes to several planets and moons of the solar system as well as to a number of asteroids and comets.
Read more about Space Probe: Interplanetary Trajectories, Probe Imagers, See Also, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the words space and/or probe:
“As photographs give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal, they also help people to take possession of space in which they are insecure.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Y’know scientists are funny. We probe and measure and dissect. Invent lights without heat, weigh a caterpillar’s eyebrow. But when it comes to really important things we’re as stupid as the caveman.... Like love. Makes the world go ‘round, but what do we know about it? Is it a fact? Is it chemistry? Electricity?”
—Martin Berkeley, and Jack Arnold. Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson)