Science has lead humanity far throughout the ages. Even now we are only on the brink of what we can do as a species. There have been many people that have driven humans to do better and to rise and take the challenge. Many have conquered the challenge, while many have failed. Only then, have those failures pushed us to do better. The scientists we know today as space engineers and rocket scientists have mastered and changed the final frontier: space.Today, we know Saturn as one of the most beautiful planets in the solar system. The rings are fantastic, and there are many moons to explore. Man has always dreamt of reaching the stars and planets. When NASA first started their program, they probably never thought of reaching Saturn. But as it turns out, that is what would happen. On October 15, 1997, the world watched as the Titan IVB launched into orbit. (Greicius 1)
It was a joint endeavor by NASA, ESA and ASI, all contributing to the launch and mission. As the seven year mission began, it would take hope, sacrifice, and money to be the first to get to Saturn. The mission was simple: get to Saturn, take pictures, take science experiments and test valuable things while in orbit while dropping a land probe on Titan. The 16 year journey was definitely worth it for most people, and very expensive for others. Cassini-Huygen reached Saturn in 2004, while also achieving orbit in 2004. (Greicius 1)
When Cassini-Huygen was close to Saturn, it made a pass near Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Cassini dropped the probe called Huygen near Titan, and the probe then burned retrograde, and went into orbit, then landed successfully on the moon. As this happened Cassini successfully achieved orbit around Saturn and started its scientific experiments. The end game for Cassini is one of the saddest moments in NASA, as the people that worked on Cassini for more than 30 years, had to make a hard decision. The decision was to either deorbit Cassini into Saturn, or let it die in orbit.
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The Cassini team chose to deorbit Cassini into Saturn, burning up Cassini and ending the 16 year mission.As of right now, scientists are studying Jupiter and what Jupiter has to offer. The clouds are amazing, the moons are incredible and Jupiter is humongous. But how did scientists get know Jupiter so well, and how did scientists get there? Scientists came up with Juno, an orbital probe that would orbit Jupiter. It all started with an idea, an idea that would change lives. Juno was one the first of its kind, with ground breaking instruments and great mission control to back Juno up. The 2 ¾ year long wait was worth the effort, as it would change the idea of space and planets forever.
Juno was launched on August 5, 2011, and was launched on a Atlas V 551 rocket. It took Juno 20 months to reach Jupiter, and to many, it was worth the money and wait. Juno had specific instruments aboard to conduct experiments and test new theories. Juno arrived at Jupiter in July of 2016. Juno had many goals, one was to test the existence of a solid core inside of Jupiter, test the magnetosphere and gravity fields of Jupiter, and look deep into the atmosphere. Juno also wanted to test the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Juno has found many things, including Jupiter’s jet streams and gravity fields. Interesting enough, Jupiter has so much hydrogen in its atmosphere, that it creates a magnetic field about 450 million miles long.
To be a planet, you have to have the right conditions, size and atmosphere. Pluto has seen many days as a planet, and not as a planet. The New Horizons team wants to try to explore the ins and outs of Pluto. It would take years, money and a lot of planning to get to where they want to be. The team started to develop New Horizons in 2003, and many scientists were involved. Soon, there would be images unlike no other.
New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006. The journey took 10 years, and many in-space maneuvers. As New Horizons closed in on Pluto, the spacecraft had to fly-by moons, debris and had to some final maneuvers. But as the date got closer, everything seemed to go fine, until the hazard diversion team called Mission Control. One of the moons of Pluto was getting close to New Horizons, and it could spell danger for the spacecraft. A couple days later, the spacecraft was in the all-clear for Pluto. The moon had cleared out of the way, and the gravity of the moon had not altered the spacecraft’s course.
New Horizons reached Pluto in the Summer of 2016. It was a huge accomplishment for NASA and as a people. New Horizons reached its closest approach on July, 2015, taking precious pictures of Pluto and taking measurements. New Horizons made many discoveries, including 4 moons named Nix, Hydra, Styx, and Kerberos. After New Horizons passed Pluto, the United States was the first country to reach every planet. New Horizons is now on a journey past Pluto into the Kuiper Belt. Ever since man built a telescope, he could see light being shown from a planet. That light reflected from the sun of the planet, showing us exactly where it was in the dark sky. Even now, we can barely see the faint show of light being reflected of the planets.
Scientists studied these planets, and got a once in a lifetime opportunity. The planets were going to be in the perfect formation for a spacecraft to speed through and around the planets. A plan was born, a plan that would change the course of human history and change the record books. The spacecraft were named Voyager, 1 and 2 to be exact. The plan was simple, yet so mathematically complex that it took a revolutionary idea to take on the challenge. That idea was that a spacecraft could use gravity assists to swing around a planet and create more velocity, while also taking pictures and conducting experiments. The plan for Voyager 1 was to swing around Jupiter and Saturn, taking pictures and analyzing data.
Then Voyager 1 would fly out of the solar system to be never used again. The plan for Voyager 2 was to swing around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Then Voyager 2 would leave the Solar System, never to be used for anything again.Voyager 1 launched from Earth on September 5, 1977. The spacecraft arrived at Jupiter in March 5, 1979, taking extraordinary pictures and making new discoveries. Next, Voyager 1 flew on to Saturn, arriving in November 12, 1980. It then took pictures and discovered moons inside the rings, telling the scientists that the rocks and debris in the rings created tiny moons called intricacies. Voyager 1 also discovered active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io. Voyager 1’s mission was extended so that they could keep contact with the spacecraft as it made its journey through space.
Voyager 1 is the farthest spacecraft to every journey from Earth, entering interstellar space in March of 2013. Voyager 2 launched in August 20, 1977, and made its arrival at Jupiter on July 9, 1979. The spacecraft came in from a different angle, allowing scientists to be able see different parts of Jupiter. Voyager 2 then made its way to Saturn, reaching the planet in August of 1981. As it came in from a different angle, Uranus was now in Voyager’s path. The spacecraft reached Uranus in 24 of January in 1986. Voyager discovered 10 new moons, two new rings, and the atmosphere’s temperature.
Now the stage was set, for one of the most spectacular sightings in NASA history. Neptune was then the last planet in the mission, and Voyager reached Neptune in 1989. Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to flyby all four planets in one mission. Voyager one and two broke records, and is one of the most ambitious efforts to be conducted by NASA.As most scientists delved deeper into the understanding of how the solar system worked, astronomers and NASA scientists turned their gaze toward Mars. The Red Planet has been the focus of scientists for centuries, dating back to when the first telescope was made.
Then, as scientists learned of the existence of water on some planets, they were curious as to whether or not Mars had life on the planet. So an idea was planted, an idea that would forever change the idea and the world’s understanding of Mars. Viking One launched into orbit on August 20, 1975. The probe was instruments that were relatively new at the time. The probe was also attached with communications systems, so it could contact Earth whenever. As Viking One was reaching Mars, Viking Two was being launched. The two would be on opposite sides of the planet, and would gather data and send it back to Earth, to NASA. Viking One touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976, with mission control erupting in a roar of applause.
Viking One gave Humanity a look at a sunset on another planet. Viking Two was a different story. Viking Two was supposed to be a second probe, to have coincided with Viking One, but would soon give one the best data transfers in NASA history. The date was November 13, 1982, and Viking One had just sent its last transmission. Now NASA was preparing for Viking Two’s transmission, which would come in April. Scientists studied the transmissions sent back by Viking One, and they were excited to see that it was not all like any other planet’s surface except for Earth’s.
But, as Viking Two’s transmission was coming in, Viking One’s data was stored. Soon, the data from Viking Two would be stored with the other data. Forty years later, biologists wanted to study some of the other samples from Mars, so NASA gave them the stored data from Viking One and Two. After intense studying, the biologists concluded that the possibility of life did exist. This was a huge step for NASA, and soon, that stored data set the ground for the missions to Mars. Landing on a planet is one thing, but landing on a comet was another thing. NASA hatched a plan that would change the way we think about the way the Earth was made. The plan was complex, and would take intense concentration from mission control.
An orbital probe would drop a land probe from orbit down into the comet. Then the land probe would send data to the orbital probe, making it so that the orbital probe would be able to send data to Earth. Then the land probe would be disabled and tracked as the comet spread through the solar system. Rosetta launched on March 2, 2004. The probe was controlled by ESA but with key components and mission status from NASA. The comet was named 67p/churyumov-gerasimenko, and was speeding around the Sun near Earth. Rosetta needed to use gravity assists around different planets. Rosetta flew by Mars in February of 2007, using the planet to swing around it. In January of 2014, Rosetta got to the planet, and set the lander on the comet. Rosetta was the first ever probe to land on a comet, marking many records. The discoveries made were that asteroids and comets do not have a magnetic field, has gravity that enables debris to orbit, and helps explain how water got to Earth.
Through more than 50 years, NASA has sent probes, landers, shuttles, and orbiters to other planets. The achievements set by NASA has set world records, and enabled humanity to explore further through space. As NASA continues to grow, so does the United States, and humanity continues to get smarter and more technological. The things that have been achieved by NASA has pushed new and improved companies to rival and do better than NASA. The achievements by NASA will never be forgotten, and the people that died for the cause will always be remembered.
