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Space Exploration

This page contains links to space exploration websites, including current missions, future missions, Hubble space telescope sites, mission information, and space exploration timelines. These links are provided by Sea and Sky as a courtesy to our visitors in an attempt to make these resources easy to find and use. By clicking on the links below, you will leave the Sea and Sky site. Sea and Sky is not responsible for the content of these external sites. Problems with these external links should be reported to the Sea and Sky administrator.

  • 2001 Mars Odyssey
    2001 Mars Odyssey is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet.

  • Chandra X-ray Observatory
    NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the Universe such as exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, and matter around black holes.

  • Euclid Space Telescope
    Euclid is an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with critical contributions from NASA that aims to explore two of the biggest mysteries about the universe today: dark matter and dark energy. To study the evolution of the “dark universe,” Euclid will make a 3D map of the universe.

  • Insight Mars Lander
    InSight will place a single geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior. It will also help to understand the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion years ago. Currently scheduled to launch in March 2016.

  • James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
    The James Webb Space Telescope studies every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

  • Juno Mission to Jupiter
    Juno will improve our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter. It will study Jupiter's atmosphere, and magnetic field to try to understand how the giant planet formed.

  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
    The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched August 12, 2005, is on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time.

  • Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
    LRO has been studying the Moon from up close since 2009, making it the longest-lived lunar orbiting mission ever.he orbiter has mapped the Moon’s surface and measured its temperature, composition, and radiation environment in unprecedented detail.

  • Mars Science Laboratory
    The Mars Science Laboratory mission set down a large, mobile laboratory, known as Curiosity, at Gale Crater on Mars. Curiosity continues to explore the Red Planet looking for signs of life.

  • New Horizons Mission to Pluto and Beyond
    In 2006, NASA dispatched an ambassador to the planetary frontier. The New Horizons spacecraft flew past the icy planet Pluto and its moons in July 2015 and is now headed for the Kuiper belt.

  • Solar and Helioshperic Observatory (SOHO)
    SOHO, the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory, is a project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind.

  • Cassini Mission to Saturn
    The Cassini spacecraft performed an up-close study of the ringed planet and its domain. The Saturn System has provided an incredible wealth of opportunities for exploration and discovery.

  • Dawn - Journey to the Asteroid Belt
    Dawn, as a mission belonging to NASA’s Discovery Program, delves into the unknown, drives new technology innovations, and achieves what's never been attempted before as it explores asteroids in the main asteroid belt.

  • Kepler - A Search for Habitable Planets
    The Kepler Mission surveyed our region of the Milky Way galaxy and discovered Earth-size and smaller planets near the habitable zone and determined how many stars in our galaxy that might have such planets.

  • Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)
    The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) was a robotic mission that orbited the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.

  • Mars Exploration Rovers
    NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers explored the Martian surface making new discoveries and sending back amazing images of the Red Planet.

  • Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN)
    The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission is set to launch in 2013 and will explore the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind.

  • Spitzer Space Telescope
    The Spitzer space telescope is designed to detect infrared radiation, which is primarily heat radiation. It is the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space, and has sent back amazing images of previously hidden regions of the universe.

  • ESA's Space Telescope Site
    The European Space Agency (ESA) operates this extensive Hubble site, featuring news, information images, videos, educational material, and an online Hubble store.

  • Hubble Multimedia
    The official NASA Hibble portal that features a growing collection of resources for educators, developers, interpreters, producers, and other professionals in museums, planetaria, nature centers, observatory & park visitor centers, and other free-choice learning venues.

  • NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Page
    NASA's official page for the Hubble Space Telescope features information, links, images, and videos.

  • Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI)
    STSI is a free-standing science center, located on the campus of The Johns Hopkins University, that operates the science program for the Hubble Space Telescope.

  • NASA Missions
    Information and links for all NASA space missions in alphabetical order from A to Z.

  • NASA JPL Current Missions
    Information and links for all current space missions, including Earth science and planetary exploration.

  • NASA JPL Future Missions
    Information and links for upcoming space missions, including Earth science and planetary exploration.

  • NASA JPL Past Missions
    Information and links for past space missions, including Earth science and planetary exploration.