... Saturn . ... Marked dominance of eastward jet streams indicates that winds are not confined to the cloud layer, but must extend inward at least 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles). ... Two separate, discontinuous ringlets were found in the A-ring gap, known as Encke's Gap, about 73,000 kilometers (45,000 miles) from Saturn's cloud tops. ... The spokes found in the B-ring appear only at radial distances between 43,000 kilometers (27,000 miles) and 57,000 kilometers (35,000 miles) above Saturn's clouds. ...
... Viking Images . ... Each spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and a lander. ... The first month of orbit was devoted to imaging the surface to find appropriate landing sites for the Viking Landers. On July 20, 1976 Viking Lander 1 separated from the Orbiter and touched down at Chryse Planitia. ... The Viking Landers transmitted images of the surface, took surface samples and analyzed them for composition and signs of life, studied atmospheric composition and meteorology, and deployed seismometers. ...
Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center . Launch Date: 1968-11-10 . ... Zond 6 was launched on a lunar flyby mission from a parent satellite in Earth parking orbit. ... Zond 6 flew around the Moon on November 14, 1968, at a minimum distance of 2,420 kilometers (1,504 kilometers). ... This experiment had the purpose of photographing the lunar surface, especially areas missed by earlier missions, and to overlap with better photography those areas that had been previously covered. ...
Apollo 17 Summary . ... As on Apollo 16, Cernan and Schmitt began their work on the surface by deploying the Rover and then the ALSEP experiments. ... In the mean time, Parker wanted Cernan back at the Rover so that he and Schmitt could be on their way. ... As Scott and Irwin had done in a similar circumstance on Apollo 15, the 17 crew decided that the best plan was for Schmitt to walk down to a small crater where Cernan could get the Rover level enough for him to climb on board. ...
Never in the history of exploration has there been an undertaking quite like Apollo. ... Few of the half million ever had a chance to travel in space and fewer still walked on the Moon; but most were deeply dedicated and, for them, working on Apollo was much more than a job. ... Apollo was a start. ... By the time of the last three missions, crews were spending three days on the Moon and, out of each twenty-four hours, were staying outside and working hard for six to seven hours at a time. ...
... Historical Data . Orbital Data . Physical Data . ... Sun . ... Jupiter . ... Saturn . ... William Herschel . ... William Cranch Bond . ... William Henry Pickering . Uranus . ... 1986 . Voyager 2 . ... William Lassell . ... J. Christy Key: Name Name of the planet or satellite. Orbits Sun or planet about which it orbits. ...
Ida and Dactyl . Ida . ... On August 28, 1993 Galileo came within 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) of 243 Ida, the second asteroid ever encountered by a spacecraft. ... Dactyl . ... This color picture is made from images taken by the Galileo spacecraft about 14 minutes before its closest approach to Ida at a range of about 10,500 kilometers (6,500 miles). ... This image is the first full picture showing both asteroid 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl transmitted to Earth from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. ...
Leda . Jupiter XIII . Leda [LEE-duh] is the ninth known and smallest satellite of Jupiter. Leda was the queen of Sparta and the mother of Helen and Pollux. The picture shown above is the discovery image of Leda. ... Leda Statistics . ... Mass (Earth = 1) . ... Equatorial radius (km) . ... Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) . ... Mean density (gm/cm^3) . ... Mean distance from Jupiter (km) . ... Rotational period (days) . Orbital period (days) . ... Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) . ...
Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center . Launch Date: 1970-09-12 . ... Luna 16 was launched toward the Moon from a preliminary earth orbit and entered a lunar orbit on September 17, 1970. On September 20, the spacecraft soft landed on the lunar surface in Mare Foecunditatis (the Sea of Fertility) as planned. According to the Bochum Radio Space Observatory in the Federal Republic of Germany, strong and good quality television pictures were returned by the spacecraft. ...
Oberon . Uranus IV . Oberon [O-buh-ron] is a moon of Uranus that is characterized by an old, heavily cratered, and icy surface. The surface shows little evidence of internal activity other than some unknown dark material that apparently covers the floors of many craters. The above image shows several large impact craters towards the center of the image. ... This image of Oberon shows several large impact craters towards the center of the picture. ... Polar Stereographic Map of Oberon . ...
Rhea . ... Rhea is an icy body with a density of 1.33 gm/cm 3 . The low density indicates that it is composed of a rocky core taking up less than one-third of the moon's mass, with the rest composed of water-ice. ... Rhea is heavily cratered with bright whispy markings. ... The second area, in parts of the polar and equatorial regions, has craters under 40 kilometers (25 miles) in diameter. ... Orbital period (days) . ... Credit: Calvin J. Hamilton) . ... Copyright ї 1997 by Calvin J. Hamilton . ...
NASA Mars Orbiter . ... The Mars Global Surveyor mission is designed as a rapid, low-cost recovery of the Mars Observer mission objectives. The science objectives involve high resolution imaging of the surface, studies of the topography and gravity, the role of water and dust on the surface and in the atmosphere of Mars, the weather and climate of Mars, the composition of the surface and atmosphere, and the existence and evolution of the Martian magnetic field. ...
... Launch Date: 1969-08-07 . ... Zond 7 was launched towards the Moon from a mother spacecraft on a mission of further studies of the Moon and circulmunar space, to obtain color photography of the Earth and the Moon from varying distances, and to flight test the spacecraft systems. Earth photos were obtained on August 9, 1969. ... Zond 7 reentered the Earth's atmosphere on August 14, 1969, and achieved a soft landing in a preset region south of Kustanai. Space History . ...
Apollo 16 Summary . ... Crew John W. Young, commander . ... Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilot . ... Apollo 16 rover ride . ... The Lunar Module Pilot, Charlie Duke, had served with distinction as CapCom during the Apollo 11 landing. ... Like the Apollo 15 crew, Young and Duke had been through training as a back-up crew for a landing mission (Apollo 13) and, so, for their own mission were able to spend about forty percent of their time training for the surface operations. ...
... The Apollo Spacecraft . ... The LM Cabin . ... The Suit Circuit . ... In the Open position, oxygen flowed freely out of the Suit Circuit into the cabin; while, in the Closed position, no flow could occur. ... The fail-safe position was Pull/Egress which closed the valve and prevented the flow of oxygen out of the suit circuit, through the valve, and into the cabin. ... Oxygen flowing out of the Suit Gas Diverter valve returned to the suit circuit through the Cabin Gas Return valve. ...
Desdemona . Uranus X - 1986U6 . Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in Shakespeare's play Othello . It is the fifth known satellite of Uranus and was discovered by Voyager 2 . Desdemona Statistics . Discovered by . ... Equatorial radius (km) . ... Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) . ... Mean density (gm/cm^3) . Mean distance from Uranus (km) . ... Rotational period (days) . Orbital period (days) . ... Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) . ... Orbital eccentricity . ...
... Launch Date: 1970-11-10 . ... Luna 17 was launched from an earth parking orbit towards the Moon and entered lunar orbit on November 15, 1970. ... Lunokhod 1 was a lunar vehicle formed of a tub-like compartment with a large convex lid on eight independently powered wheels. Lunokhod was equipped with a cone-shaped antenna, a highly directional helical antenna, four television cameras, and special extendable devices to impact the lunar soil for soil density and mechanical property tests. ...
Magellan to Venus . ... The spacecraft carried a sophisticated imaging radar, which was used to make the most highly detailed map of Venus ever captured during its four years in orbit around Venus from 1990 to 1994. After concluding its radar mapping, Magellan also made global maps of Venus's gravity field. ... The Magellan mission was divided up into "cycles" with each cycle lasting 243 days (the time necessary for Venus to rotate once under the Magellan orbit). ... Magellan Orbiting Venus . ...
... Rings of Saturn . ... Saturn's Ring System . ... Saturn's ring system makes the planet one of the most beautiful objects in the solar system. ... Beyond the Encke Division (at left) is the faintest of Saturn's three bright rings, the C-ring or crepe ring, barely visible against the planet. ... False Color Image of Saturn's Rings . ... Saturn's F-Ring . ... Saturn's Satellites and Ring Plane Structure . This image shows Saturn's satellites approximately to scale as well as Saturn's ring structure. ...