Advancement in space technology part-2
In the last article, we talked about the advancement in space launch vehicles and as I informed last time that the next article will be on the Advancement in space probe technology. First let's understand what is a space probe? So, a space probe is a robotic spacecraft that does not orbit earth, but instead, explores the outer space. In simple words it's is a spacecraft that orbits and collects useful data from planet other that earth. From the beginning of space era there had been many advancement in the space probe technology. In the early space era the Space probe which were built and launched at that time didn't had any engines and only had few scientific instruments on it to carry out the study of celestial bodies but the Space probe of the modern space era are equipped with a Bipropellant rocket engines to stay in the orbit for a longer duration and they also carry a lander to carry out advance study of the celestial body. So, after knowing the basics of a space probe let's talk about some iconic space probe and advancement in their technology.
Advancement in space probe technology
Voyager space program
The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two robotic probes. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The original mission was to study only the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 2 continued to Uranus and Neptune. At present, the Voyager currently explore the outer boundary of the heliosphere in interstellar space; the voyager mission has been extended three times and they have continued to transmit scientific data till 2019. On 25 august 2012 Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to enter Interstellar space. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are currently moving with a velocity of 17km/s. Voyager 2 entered the interstellar space on 5 November 2018. The voyager space probe was built by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in South California and was funded by NASA. The cost of original program was $865 million, with a later added Interstellar mission costing an extra $30 million.
For more information about Voyager space program you can visit Voyager space mission
Cassini-Huygens
The Cassini-Huygens space research mission, commonly called Cassini. Launched on October 15, 1997, it was a result of the collaboration between NASA, The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian space agency (ASI) to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini probe and ESA's Huygens lander, which landed on the Saturn largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and first to enter its orbit. Cassini space probe was manufactured by Jet Propulsion laboratory and Huygens Titan lander was manufactured by Thales Alenia space. The Cassini space research mission ended on September 15, 2017 while performing a controlled entry in the Saturn atmosphere. Cassini was the first space probe which didn't used solar energy as a power source instead the Cassini-orbiter was powered by three GPHS-RTG radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which used heat from the decay of about 33 kg of plutonium-238. Huygens lander made a successful descent into the titan on January 15, 2005.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens space mission you can visit Cassini | NASA
Rosetta
Rosetta was a space probe built by the European space agency launched on March 2, 2004. Along with Philae its lander module. Rosetta performed a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P). It was launched as the third cornerstone mission of the ESA's Horizon 2000 programme, after SOHO / Cluster and XMM-Newton. The Rosetta entered the comet's orbit on August 6, 2014 and became the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and The Philae landed on the surface of comet 67P on November 12, 2014 and the lander also became the first to make a soft landing on the comet. On July 27, 2016, ESA switched off the Electrical support system (ESS) that also resulted in the communication break between the ESA and the Philae lander. The spacecraft kept working till September 30, 2016 when it went deorbited and crashed at the Sias, Ma'at region.
For more information about Rosetta you can visit Rosetta | rendezvous with a comet
New horizons
New horizons is an Interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. New Horizons was manufacture by the applied physics laboratory (APL) and the southwest research institute (SwRI). The New horizons Space probe was launched on January 19, 2006 with the primary mission to perform a flyby study of Pluto system in 2015, and a secondary mission to flyby and study one or more Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). It is the fifth space probe to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the solar system. The New horizons is the fastest man-made object ever launched from earth. On July 14, 2015, it flew 12,500km above the surface of Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. On January 1, 2019 new horizons made a flyby to KBO 486958 Arrokoth. New horizons is currently in the interstellar space and is still working.
For more information about New horizons you can visit New horizons | NASA
Juno
Juno is a NASA Space probe orbiting the planet Jupiter. It was manufactured by Lockheed Martin and is operated by NASA's Jet propulsion laboratory. The spacecraft was launched from the Cape Canaveral air force station on August 5, 2011, as a part of the new frontier program. Juno entered a polar orbit of Jupiter on July 5, 2016, to begin a scientific investigation of planet. Juno mission is to measure Jupiter's composition, gravity field, magnetic field and polar magnetosphere. Juno is the second aircraft to orbit Jupiter, after the nuclear powered Galileo orbiter. Juno is the only space probe which is powered by solar arrays, while other space probe which travel outer space use the radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Juno is expected to function till July 30, 2021 after which it will be intentionally deorbited.
For more information about Juno you can visit Juno - mission to Jupiter | NASA
So in this article we talked about some Iconic space probe and the advancement in their technology. Hope you all enjoyed reading it. In the next and last part of this advancement in space technology series the next blog we will be talking about the advancement is space rover technology.
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