Distant Artificial Objects Exploring the Solar System
- Here are the major artificial objects that have achieved escape velocity that will allow them to leave the Solar System. Voyagers continue communicating with the Deep Space Network to receive routine commands & return data.
- The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide network of U.S. spacecraft communication facilities, located in the California, Madrid, and Canberra, that supports NASA’s interplanetary spacecraft missions.
|
Space probe |
Launch year |
Significant event |
Objective |
Current status |
Distance from the Sun in AU |
| Pioneer 10 | 1972 | Flew past Saturn in 1979 | Study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar wind and cosmic rays. | Contact lost in 2003 | ~ 120 AU |
| Pioneer 11 | 1973 | Flew past Saturn in 1979 | Contact lost in 1995 | ~ 90 AU | |
|
Voyager 2 |
Aug 1977 | Passed the heliopause in December 2018 to enter interstellar space (second artificial object to leave the solar system). | Explore all Jovian planets.
Extended mission of both the Voyagers is to study the outer reaches of the Solar System. |
Active |
~ 129 AU (as of Jan 2022) |
|
Voyager 1 |
Sep 1977 |
Passed the heliopause in 2012 to enter interstellar space (first artificial object to leave the solar system). |
Explore Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. |
Active |
~ 155 AU (as of Jan 2022) |
|
New Horizons |
2006 | Flew past Pluto in 2015. It is currently travelling through Kuiper belt. | To perform a study of Pluto, and more other Kuiper belt objects. |
Active |
~ 53 AU (as of Jan 2022) |
|
Juno |
2011 | Entered a polar orbit of Jupiter in 2016 | Study Jupiter’s composition, gravitational field, magnetic field, etc. |
Active |
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