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List of NASA missions
List article

This is a list of NASA missions, both crewed and robotic, since the establishment of NASA in 1957. There are over 80 currently active science missions.

X-Plane program

Main article: List of X-planes

Since 1945, NACA (NASA's predecessor) and, since January 26, 1958, NASA has conducted the X-Plane Program. The program was originally intended to create a family of experimental aircraft not intended for production beyond the limited number of each design built solely for flight research.2 The first X-Plane, the Bell X-1, was the first rocket-powered airplane to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.3 X-Planes have set numerous milestones since then, both crewed and unpiloted.4

Human spaceflight

Main article: Human spaceflight

NASA has successfully launched over 200 crewed flights. Three have ended in failure, causing the death of the entire crew: Apollo 1 (which never launched) in 1967 lost three crew members, STS-51-L (the Challenger disaster) in 1986, and STS-107 (the Columbia disaster) in 2003.

ProgramStart dateFirst crewed flightEnd dateNo. of crewed missions launchedNotes
Mercury program1958196119636First U.S. crewed program
Gemini program19611965196610Program used to practice space rendezvous and EVAs
Apollo program19601968197211[a]Landed first humans on the Moon
Skylab1964197319743First American space station
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project1971197519751Joint with Soviet Union
Space Shuttle program197219812011135[b]First missions in which a spacecraft was reused
Shuttle-Mir program19931995199811[c]Russian partnership
International Space Station19931998Ongoing65Joint with Roscosmos, CSA, ESA, and JAXA; Americans flew on Russian Soyuz after 2011 retirement of Space Shuttle
Commercial Crew Program20112020Ongoing8Current program to shuttle Americans to the ISS
Artemis program20172025 (planned)Ongoing0Current program to bring humans to the Moon again

Notes:

Early Obama administration review

Further information: Constellation program

In May 2009, the Obama administration announced the launch of an independent review of planned U.S. human space flight activities with the goal of ensuring that the nation is on a vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its boldest aspirations in space. The review was conducted by a panel of experts led by Norman Augustine, the former CEO of Lockheed Martin, who served on the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology under both Democrat and Republican presidents.5

The "Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans" was to examine ongoing and planned National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) development activities, as well as potential alternatives and present options for advancing a safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable human space flight program in the years following Space Shuttle retirement. The panel worked closely with NASA and sought input from the United States Congress, the White House, the public, industry, and international partners as it developed its options. It presented its results on October 22, 2009.67 8

In February 2010, Obama announced his proposal to cancel the Constellation program as part of his reform program. Constellation was officially canceled by the NASA Budget Authorization Act on October 11, 2010.

Future

Further information: Artemis program

NASA brought the Orion spacecraft back to life from the defunct Constellation program and successfully test-launched the first capsule on December 5, 2014, aboard EFT-1. After a near-perfect flight traveling 3,600 miles (5,800 km) above Earth, the spacecraft was recovered for study. NASA plans to use the Orion crew vehicle to send humans to deep space locations such as the Moon and Mars starting in the 2020s. Orion will be powered by NASA's new heavy-lift vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently under development.

Artemis I was the first flight of the SLS and was launched as a test of the completed Orion and SLS system.9 During the mission, an uncrewed Orion capsule spent 10 days in a distant retrograde 60,000 kilometers (37,000 mi) orbit around the Moon before returning to Earth.10 Artemis II, the first crewed mission of the program, will launch four astronauts in 202511 on a free-return flyby of the Moon at a distance of 8,900 kilometers (5,500 mi).121314

After Artemis II, the Power and Propulsion Element of the Lunar Gateway and three components of an expendable lunar lander are planned to be delivered on multiple launches from commercial launch service providers.15

Artemis III is planned to launch in 202616 aboard an SLS Block 1 rocket and will use the minimalist Gateway and expendable lander to achieve the first crewed lunar landing of the program. The flight is planned to touch down on the lunar south pole region, with two astronauts staying there for about one week.1718192021

Robotic missions

Suborbital

Earth and Heliocentric satellites

Main category: NASA satellites orbiting Earth

  • Terra, launched December 1999, operational
  • Aqua, launched May 2002, operational
  • Aura, launched July 2004, operational

Sun

  • TIMED, launched December 2001, operational
  • Hinode, launched September 2006, operational
  • STEREO, launched October 2006, operational
  • MMS, launched March 2015,39 operational
  • IMAP, launching 2025, future

Moon

See also: Exploration of the Moon

  • Ranger 1, launched August 1961, failed
  • Ranger 2, launched November 1961, failed
  • Ranger 3, launched January 1962, failed
  • Ranger 4, launched April 1962, failed
  • Ranger 5, launched October 1962, failed
  • Ranger 6, launched January 1964, failed
  • Ranger 7, launched July 1964, completed
  • Ranger 8, launched February 1965, completed
  • Ranger 9, launched March 1965, completed
  • Discovery 3Lunar Prospector, launched January 1998, completed
  • Discovery 11GRAIL, launched September 2011, completed 44

Mercury

  • Discovery 7MESSENGER, launched August 2004, completed – first to orbit Mercury

Venus

  • Mariner 1, launched July 1962, failed – intended to be first American flyby of Venus
  • Mariner 2, launched August 1962, completed – first flyby of Venus by an operational spacecraft
  • Mariner 5, launched June 1967, completed – flyby of Venus
  • Mariner 10, launched November 1973, completed – flyby of Venus; multiple flybys of Mercury; first spacecraft to Mercury
  • Discovery 15VERITAS, launching 2028, future
  • Discovery 16DAVINCI, launching 2029, future

Mars

See also: Exploration of Mars

  • Viking 1, launched August 1975, completed
  • Viking 2, launched September 1975, completed
  • Deep Space 2, launched January 1999, failed – (sub-surface probes)

Jupiter

  • New Frontiers 2Juno, launched August 2011, operational – Jupiter orbiter mission45

Saturn

  • New Frontiers 4Dragonfly, launching 2028, future

Uranus

Neptune

Asteroids/comets

  • Discovery 4Stardust, launched February 1999, completed – follow-up for Deep Impact's primary mission to 9P/Tempel
  • Discovery 6CONTOUR, launched July 2002, failed
  • Discovery 8Deep Impact (primary); EPOXI (extended), launched January 2005, completed
  • Discovery 9Dawn, launched September 2007, completed – Vesta in 2011-2012, and Ceres in 2015-2018
  • Discovery 13Lucy, launched October 2021, operational – Will fly by one main-belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojan asteroids.46
  • Discovery 14Psyche, launched October 2023, enroute
  • New Frontiers 3OSIRIS-REx – launched September 2016, operational4748

Dwarf planets

  • Discovery 9Dawn, launched September 2007, completed – Vesta in 2011-2012, and Ceres in 2015-2018

Canceled or undeveloped missions

Main article: List of NASA cancellations

Old proposals

  • Mars Scout program

See also

Bibliography

References

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  9. Foust 2019, "Artemis 1, or EM-1, will be an uncrewed test flight of Orion and SLS and is scheduled to launch in June of 2020." - Foust, Jeff (July 21, 2019). "NASA outlines plans for lunar lander development through commercial partnerships". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2019. https://spacenews.com/nasa-outlines-plans-for-lunar-lander-development-through-commercial-partnerships/

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  14. Heaton & Sood 2020, p. 7. - Heaton, Andrew; Sood, Dr. Rohan (August 10, 2020). "Space Launch System Departure Trajectory Analysis for Cislunar and Deep-Space Exploration" (PDF). NASA. p. 7. Retrieved January 28, 2023. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20205005206/downloads/20205005206%20OCR%20reupload.pdf

  15. Weitering, Hanneke (May 23, 2019). "NASA Has a Full Plate of Lunar Missions Before Astronauts Can Return to Moon". Space.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019. And before NASA sends astronauts to the moon in 2024, the agency will first have to launch five aspects of the lunar Gateway, all of which will be commercial vehicles that launch separately and join each other in lunar orbit. First, a power and propulsion element will launch in 2022. Then, the crew module will launch (without a crew) in 2023. In 2024, during the months leading up to the crewed landing, NASA will launch the last critical components: a transfer vehicle that will ferry landers from the Gateway to a lower lunar orbit, a descent module that will bring the astronauts to the lunar surface, and an ascent module that will bring them back up to the transfer vehicle, which will then return them to the Gateway. https://www.space.com/nasa-moon-missions-before-2024.html

  16. "Artemis III: NASA's First Human Mission to the Lunar South Pole - NASA". January 13, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2024. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-iii/

  17. Weitering, Hanneke (May 23, 2019). "NASA Has a Full Plate of Lunar Missions Before Astronauts Can Return to Moon". Space.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019. And before NASA sends astronauts to the moon in 2024, the agency will first have to launch five aspects of the lunar Gateway, all of which will be commercial vehicles that launch separately and join each other in lunar orbit. First, a power and propulsion element will launch in 2022. Then, the crew module will launch (without a crew) in 2023. In 2024, during the months leading up to the crewed landing, NASA will launch the last critical components: a transfer vehicle that will ferry landers from the Gateway to a lower lunar orbit, a descent module that will bring the astronauts to the lunar surface, and an ascent module that will bring them back up to the transfer vehicle, which will then return them to the Gateway. https://www.space.com/nasa-moon-missions-before-2024.html

  18. Grush 2019, "Now, for Artemis 3 that carries our crew to the Gateway, we need to have the crew have access to a lander. So, that means that at Gateway we're going to have the Power and Propulsion Element, which will be launched commercially, the Utilization Module, which will be launched commercially, and then we'll have a lander there.. - Grush, Loren (May 17, 2019). "NASA administrator on new Moon plan: 'We're doing this in a way that's never been done before'". The Verge. Retrieved January 13, 2023. https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/17/18627839/nasa-administrator-jim-bridenstine-artemis-moon-program-budget-amendment

  19. Grush 2019, "The direction that we have right now is that the next man and the first woman will be Americans and that we will land on the south pole of the Moon in 2024.". - Grush, Loren (May 17, 2019). "NASA administrator on new Moon plan: 'We're doing this in a way that's never been done before'". The Verge. Retrieved January 13, 2023. https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/17/18627839/nasa-administrator-jim-bridenstine-artemis-moon-program-budget-amendment

  20. Chang, Kenneth (May 25, 2019). "For Artemis Mission to Moon, NASA Seeks to Add Billions to Budget". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019. Under the NASA plan, a mission to land on the moon would take place during the third launch of the Space Launch System. Astronauts, including the first woman to walk on the moon, Mr. Bridenstine said, would first stop at the orbiting lunar outpost. They would then take a lander to the surface near its south pole, where frozen water exists within the craters. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/science/trump-nasa-moon-mars.html

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  38. "INCUS". NASA. Retrieved September 30, 2024. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/incus/

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