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14 Ongoing Space Missions You Did not Know About

The farthest to human has ever Traveled away from our planet is the moon, and the last time was That Happened on December 17  th  , 1972. While We Still Have people orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station (ISS) Have not ventured Further humans . in Decades  The Reasons are many, from costs to the logistics of sending a human being to outer space, Which has led scientists and astronomers to find an alternative solutions -. unmanned space missions  Many of you will Have heard of the European Space Agency's ( ESA)  Rosetta   mission, in Which They landed an unmanned spaceship on an asteroid for the first time in history.  Then there's the ongoing   New Horizons   mission, NASA's unmanned spaceship Where flew close to the dwarf planet Pluto, Charon and Its moon, taking the first . proper colored photos of the frozen planet  And of course, everyone knows of the Mars rovers -  Opportunity   and   Curiosity  , the Latter still roams the red planet, providing Us with invaluable information.  Did you know, however, That there are several other exciting That space missions are underway right now?

1. Juno: Jupiter
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
NASA's Juno mission was Launched in 2011 and has-been heading towards Jupiter ever since.  It will gather information to allow us to learn how the gas giant was FORMED, What its composition is, and how it Affected The Solar System when it was created.  Jupiter has a powerful gravitational field That Serves as a Shield Against Such asteroids as stellar debris, for the inner planets.  DESPITE ITS seemingly vital role, we still do not know much about it, and this is Where Juno will come into play, when it arrives on July 4  th   2016.

2. Akatsuki Venus
Space Missions
Image source: Dennis Normile / news.sciencemag.org
 
Launched in 2010, Akatsuki is meant to be a weather satellite with a catch -. It's meant to track the weather on the planet Venus  The Japanese Aerospace Explorations Agency (JAXA) Had some Problems with the craft's thrusters and Could not place it in orbit around Venus, but still managed to leave it in orbit around the sun.  In the time since the failure, scientists figured out how to fix the problem and are now waiting for Venus and Akatsuki to align, So They can Attempt to place it in orbit Eleven More.  This should happen by the end of 2015.

3. Dawn: Ceres
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
Ceres is a dwarf planet and the largest stellar body in the asteroid belt Between Mars and Jupiter.  The Dawn mission to manmade spacecraft, you Approached and photographed this dwarf planet.  Some of the photos revealed unexplained Have white dots on the surface, Which are still at This Time Being Investigated.

4. New Horizons: The Kuiper Belt
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
. After STI visit to Pluto in July 2015, some ten years after STI launch, New Horizons Continues to head out of the Solar System  Its next destination is the Kuiper Belt - the outer rim of our solar system, well beyond the Known planets.  The asteroid belt is a huge field, 20 times larger than the internal asteroid field.  The belt contains many smaller asteroids Bodies that are larger than planets but smaller than, Composed mainly of rock, metal, and water.  These chunks of space rocks Have been there since the formation of the Solar System, and the NASA scientists are keen to explore them.

5. Rosetta: Riding a Comet
Space Missions
Image source:. CNES / Ill  D. Ducros
 
The ESA's Rosetta mission to land the first ever spacecraft on an asteroid successful PROVED, When ITS lander, Philae, touched down on the surface of comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 12  th   2014. Due to a miscalculation, the lander ended up in a crevasse, Which allowed very little sunlight to reach the craft's solar panels, forcing it into "sleep mode".  At the moment, ESA scientists are waiting for 67P to move closer to the sun, Which Should allow more light to reach Philae and recharge it.  Hopefully, This will happen early enough to allow the lander to gather valuable information about the gasses are released from comets That They approach as stars.

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6. Cassini: Jupiter's Moons
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
Launched Nearly 20 years ago (!), Cassini Traveled 750 million miles to reach Saturn in 2004. During ITS 7-year flight, it passed by Jupiter Also, the MOST taking detailed photos of the gas giant that've ever Been taken.  Upon arriving at Saturn, Cassini released a landing vehicle, Huygens, Which landed on the surface of Titan, one of Saturn's moons.  The mission continued, as Cassini Gathered samples from the geysers of another one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, in 2008. The craft is still in good working order, and it is now heading back towards Jupiter's moons to study them.

7. Hayabusa 2: Asteroid JU3
Space Missions
Image source: JRC Garry
 
The Hayabusa 2's mission is to try and determine the origins of life.  To Achieve STI goal, Hayabusa 2 asteroid is heading towards JU3 and is scheduled to Rendezvous with it in 2018. The craft will Then proceed to send three small sensors to the asteroid's surface to study it and collect samples, ITS Eventually planning to land on surface.  Once it lands, then a Hayabusa will lift off again, leaving behind an explosive device, and will resume orbit around the asteroid.  Once the bomb explodes, the craft will land in the crater and collect samples to carry back to Earth for analysis Further.

8. Pioneer 10 & 11: Beyond the Solar System
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
Launched in 1972 and 1973, the Pioneer missions are the record holders for "furthest manmade object in space." While we lost Contact with Pioneer 10 in 2003, we know STI That trajectory is taking it to the star Aldebaran, and It Should get there in roughly 2 million years.
Pioneer 11 is Currently 44,100,000,000,000,000 miles away from Earth and is heading towards the Scutum constellation.  Both carry plaques crafts With detailed information on human biology, knowledge, and the location of Earth in the galaxy, in case aliens find it and decide They want to visit .

9. Voyager 1: Beyond the Solar System
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
Launched NASA Voyager 1 in 1977, with the mission to visit MOST of the outer planets.  Voyager 1 provided Us with the first actual photos of Jupiter and Saturn and some of Their moons.  It even sent us the first photos Showed That volcanoes on Io, Which is one of Jupiter's moons.  In 1990, it sent back a picture of Earth from a distance of 3.7 billion miles.  The picture, titled "Pale Blue Dot" shows Earth as nothing more than a visible barely dot in the cosmos.  That it Voyager 1 is expected will cease operations by 2030, when it will no longer be reliable enough to generate nuclear power reactor ITS Through tiny.
 
10. Voyager 2: Beyond the Solar System
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
Voyager 1's twin sister craft ITS Followed three weeks later, but was Aimed at Uranus, Neptune, and Their moons, sending us more phenomenal shots of the outer planets.  like its sister craft, Voyager 2 is expected to run out of power by 2030.

11. Kepler Space Observatory: Searching for Earth-like Planets
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
One of NASA's Most interesting missions. - The Kepler Observatory is a deep-space telescope designed to find planets in other solar Systems  The telescope is so advanced That it can determine if the planet is in a star's habitable zone, as well as its size.  STI Since launch in 2009, the Kepler program has found over 4,200 planets, with around 1,000 of them Being in a zone Where Life Could Potentially develop.

12. STEREO: Measuring the Sun
Space Missions
Image source: berkeley.edu
 
In 2006, NASA Launched into pair of identical satellites named STEREO STEREO A and B. The satellites are meant to observe the sun from two points in space - one ahead of the Earth and another behind it.  This amazing duo Provides scientists with a full view of the sun, without the need to guess what is happening on the side we Could not see.  If you're curious to know more, visit the   SSC website  .

13. Mars Orbiter Mission: Mars
Space Missions
Image source: Nesnad / Wikimedia Commons
 
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Launched Its Own satellite mission to Mars, named Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).  MOM is, to this day, the Cheapest Launched ever mission to Mars, costing just $ 73 million.  The satellite Reached and Began orbiting the red planet in late 2014, and at the time of writing, it's still working perfectly and delivering valuable information to the ISRO.

14. Venus Express: Venus
Space Missions
Image source: NASA
 
Launched in 2005, the Venus Express 'mission is to chart Venus' climate.  The missionwas originally due to last 500 days, and That time has long since elapsed, but the ESA DECIDED to use the still-functioning follow craft to Earth from Venus and see if it's possible to spot That distance from life.  If the study works, and signs of life can be spotted from a distant planet, it May Have a profound effect on how we study astrophysics, as well as future exploration of space. 

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