Satellite

Top 10 satellites launched

By hgutwin2

  • #1: Apollo 11

    #1: Apollo 11
    The coolest satellite? The one the humans got to tag along on! Apollo 11 was the spacecraft that landed Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon. Of the 17 Apollo missions it was the most sucessful.

  • #2: Pioneer 10

    #2: Pioneer 10
    Pioneer 10 was the first satellite to penetrate the asteroid belt and visit the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. Pioneer 10 and its twin, Pioneer 11, have long since stopped sending data and are slowly flying out of the solar system.

  • #9: Viking 1

    #9: Viking 1
    Viking 1 was the first spacecraft to send back color photos of Mars's surface. It holds the title for the longest running Mars mission, which lasted 6 years and 116 days.

  • #10: Hubble Telescope

    #10: Hubble Telescope
    The Hubble Space Telescope has made many important discoveries after being launched by NASA, such as the rate the universe is expanding at and found gamma ray bursts from collapsed stars.

  • #5: Cassini-Huygens

    #5: Cassini-Huygens
    Cassini-Huygens split in two when it neared Saturn. Cassini flew to Saturn and orbited while Huygens landed on Titan, one of Saturn's large moons. Also, Cassini is the first satellite to orbit Saturn and study it in detail.

  • #4: Chandra

    #4: Chandra
    The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has been scanning space in X-ray vision for over 10 years. Chandra is a very good tool for scanning the skies because it can see X-Ray sources 100x fainter than most X-ray machines.

  • #6: Voyager 2

    #6: Voyager 2
    Voyager 2 certainly lives up to its name, having gone to Jupiter and found volcanic presence on Io, and gone twice as far as Pluto.

  • #3: WMAP

    #3: WMAP
    The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe is not as well known as other satellites, but its measuring of the radiation left over from the Big Bang has lead to many important discoveries.

  • #7: Spirit and Opportunity

    #7: Spirit and Opportunity
    Spirit and Opportunity touched down on opposite sides of Mars in 2004 and have been exploring ever since. One of the cool discoveries it has made is that Mars once had liquid water on its suface.

  • #8: Spitzer Telescope

    #8: Spitzer Telescope
    The Spitzer Space Telescope takes photos with infared light, whose rays are not blocked by the earth's atmosphere. It also takes photos in stunning color.