List of interplanetary voyages

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This is a comprehensive list of spaceflights between two or more bodies of the Solar System, listed in chronological order by launch date. It includes only flights that escaped Earth orbit and reached the vicinity of another planet, asteroid or comet; flights that were planned but not executed, were destroyed at or shortly after launch, or which missed their target entirely are not included. The list is divided between those flights which stopped at a destination, and those which flew by their target.

Contents
Color legend

Missions to the planets, asteroids, or comets are marked in the following colors:

     Mercury      Venus      Mars      Asteroids      Jupiter      Saturn      Uranus      Neptune      Pluto      Comets

[edit] Completed flights

The following flights were completed by matching velocity with the target object, whether by station-keeping, entering orbit, landing, or impact.

Spacecraft Launched Reached planet Flight duration Notes Ref
Venera 3 16 November 1965 1 March 1966
impact		 106 days
(3 months, 14 days)		 Venera 3 was intended to soft-land on Venus. Contact with the spacecraft was lost before arrival, and Venera 3 crashed. [1]
Venera 4 12 June 1967 18 October 1967
entered atmosphere		 129 days
(4 months, 7 days)		 Venera 4, a Venus atmosphere probe, continued to transmit to an altitude of 25 km [2]
Venera 5 5 January 1969 16 May 1969
entered atmosphere		 132 days
(4 months, 12 days)		 Venera 5 was a Venus atmosphere probe. [3]
Venera 6 10 January 1969 17 May 1969
entered atmosphere		 128 days
(4 months, 8 days)		 Venera 6 was a Venus atmosphere probe. [4]
Venera 7 lander 17 August 1970 15 December 1970
landed		 121 days
(3 months, 29 days)		 Venera 7 made the first successful landing on another planet, and returned signals from the surface of Venus for 23 minutes. [5]
Mars 2 Orbiter and Lander 19 May 1971 27 November 1971
impact		 193 days
(6 months, 9 days)		 The Mars 2 lander crashed into Mars on 27 November 1971, in a failed soft landing attempt. It was the first manmade object to reach the surface of Mars. The orbiter continued operating until 22 August 1972. [6] [7]
Mars 3 Orbiter and Lander 28 May 1971 2 December 1971
entered orbit/landed		 189 days
(6 months, 5 days)		 Mars 3 did not attain its intended orbit due to insufficient fuel. The lander reached the surface on 2 December 1971, but contact was lost immediately afterward. The orbiter continued operating until 22 August 1972. [8] [9]
Mariner 9 Orbiter 30 May 1971 14 November 1971
entered orbit		 169 days
(5 months, 16 days)		 Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. It remained active until 27 October 1972. [10]
Venera 8 lander 27 March 1972 22 July 1972
landed		 118 days
(3 months, 26 days)		 Venera 8 returned signals from the surface of Venus for 50 minutes. [11]
Mars 5 Orbiter 25 July 1973 12 February 1974
entered orbit		 203 days
(6 months, 19 days)		 Mars 5 collected images and other data from Mars for 22 days. [12]
Mars 6 Lander 5 August 1973 12 March 1974
impact		 220 days
(7 months, 8 days)		 Mars 6 crash-landed on Mars and contact with the craft was lost. [13]
Venera 9 orbiter and lander 8 June 1975 20 October 1975 entered orbit
22 October 1975 landed		 135 days
(4 months, 13 days)		 The Venera 9 lander transmitted the first images from the surface of Venus. [14] [15]
Venera 10 orbiter and lander 14 June 1975 23 October 1975 entered orbit
25 October 1975 landed		 132 days
(4 months, 10 days)		 Venera 10 successfully landed and sent back images from the surface of Venus. [16] [17]
Viking 1 Orbiter and Lander 20 August 1975 19 June 1976 entered orbit
20 July 1976 landed		 305 days
(10 months)		 Viking 1 transmitted the first images from the surface of Mars. The Viking orbiter was active until 17 August 1980, the lander until 13 November 1982. [18] [19]
Viking 2 Orbiter and Lander 9 September 1975 7 August 1976 entered orbit
3 September 1976 landed		 334 days
(10 months, 30 days)		 Viking 2 was the second craft to land on Mars. The Viking orbiter was active until 25 July 1978, the lander until 11 April 1980. [20] [21]
Pioneer Venus Orbiter 20 May 1978 4 December 1978
entered orbit		 199 days
(6 months, 15 days)		 Pioneer Venus made radar and other observations of Venus. The orbiter operated until August 1992. [22]
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe 8 August 1978 9 December 1978
entered atmosphere		 124 days
(4 months, 2 days)		 The Pioneer Venus multiprobe included a "bus" and four atmospheric probes, one of which survived its impact with Venus and continued to transmit from the surface for over an hour. [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
Venera 12 Lander 14 September 1978 21 December 1978
landed		 99 days
(3 months, 8 days)		 Venera 12 returned data for 110 minutes. Images were not returned. [28]
Venera 11 Lander 9 September 1978 25 December 1978
landed		 107 days
(3 months, 16 days)		 Venera 11 returned data for 95 minutes. Images were not returned. [29]
Venera 13 Lander 30 October 1981 1 March 1982
landed		 123 days
(4 months, 2 days)		 Venera 13 survived on the surface of Venus for 127 minutes. [30]
Venera 14 Lander 4 November 1981 5 March 1982
landed		 122 days
(4 months, 2 days)		 Venera 14 survived on the surface of Venus for 57 minutes. [31]
Venera 15 Orbiter 2 June 1983 10 October 1983
entered orbit		 131 days
(4 months, 9 days)		 Venera 15 carried out radar mapping of Venus. [32]
Venera 16 Orbiter 7 June 1983 14 October 1983
entered orbit		 130 days
(4 months, 8 days)		 Venera 16 carried out radar mapping of Venus. [33]
Vega 1 Lander and balloon 15 December 1984 11 June 1985
landed/deployed		 179 days
(5 months, 28 days)		 Vega 1's instruments deployed prematurely, rendering them useless. [34] [35]
Vega 2 Lander and balloon 21 December 1984 15 June 1985
landed/deployed		 177 days
(5 months, 26 days)		 [36] [37]
Phobos 2 Orbiter and Lander 12 July 1988 29 January 1989 202 days
(6 months, 18 days)		 Phobos 2 achieved Mars orbit, but contact was lost on 27 March 1989 shortly before Phobos approach phase and deployment of Phobos landers [38]
Magellan Orbiter 4 May 1989 10 August 1990
entered orbit		 464 days
(1 yr, 3 mo, 7 d)		 Magellan carried out global radar mapping of Venus. Magellan's mission continued to 12 October 1994, when the craft burned up in Venus' atmosphere. [39]
Galileo orbiter and atmosphere probe 18 October 1989 7 December 1995
entered orbit		 2242 days
(6 yr, 1 mo, 20 d)		 Flew by several of Jupiter's moons; impacted into Jupiter 21 September 2003. [40] [41]
Mars Observer orbiter 25 September 1992 24 August 1993
entered orbit?		 334 days
(11 months)		 Contact with Mars Observer was lost 21 August 1993, shortly before Mars orbit insertion. May not have attained Mars orbit. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) 17 February 1996 14 February 2000 entered orbit
12 February 2001 landed		 1459 days
(3 yr, 11 mo, 29 d)		 The orbiter performed an improvised landing on asteroid 433 Eros. Its mission ended 28 February 2001. [47]
Mars Global Surveyor orbiter 7 November 1996 11 September 1997
entered orbit		 309 days
(10 months, 5 days)		 Contact lost after 5 November 2006. [48]
Mars Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover 4 December 1996 4 July 1997
landed		 213 days
(7 months, 1 day)		 Rover deployed 6 July 1997. Mission continued to 27 September 1997. [49] [50]
Cassini orbiter
and Huygens Titan lander		 15 October 1997 1 July 2004
entered orbit
14 January 2005
Huygens landed on Titan		 2452 days
(6 yr, 8 mo, 17 d)
2649 days (Huygens)
(7 years, 3 months)		 Continuing mission. Saturn orbiter, performing repeated by-flights of Saturn's moons; also deployed the Huygens Titan lander, the first probe to land on a satellite of another planet. [51] [52]
Mars Climate Orbiter 11 December 1998 23 September 1999
entered atmosphere		 287 days
(9 months, 13 days)		 Orbit insertion failed due to a navigational error, and Mars Climate Orbiter burned up in the Martian atmosphere. [53]
Mars Polar Lander with Deep Space 2 ground-penetrators "Amundsen" and "Scott" 3 January 1999 3 December 1999
entered atmosphere		 335 days
(11 months, 1 day)		 Contact with Mars Polar Lander was lost just prior to entering the Martian atmosphere. [54] [55]
Mars Odyssey orbiter 7 April 2001 24 October 2001
entered orbit		 201 days
(6 months, 18 days)		 Continuing mission. [56]
Hayabusa and MINERVA 9 May 2003 12 September 2005 matched velocity with 25143 Itokawa
19 and 25 November 2005 landings		 858 days
(2 yr, 4 mo, 4 d)		 The MINERVA hopper was lost on 12 November 2005. Hayabusa's return journey to Earth began in April 2007, scheduled to arrive in 2010. [57]
Mars Express orbiter and Beagle 2 lander 2 June 2003 25 December 2003
entered orbit		 207 days
(6 months, 24 days)		 Continuing mission. Contact with Beagle 2 was lost after entering Mars' atmosphere on 25 December 2003. [58] [59]
MER-A Spirit rover 10 June 2003 4 January 2004
landed		 209 days
(6 months, 26 days)		 Continuing mission. [60]
MER-B Opportunity rover 7 July 2003 25 January 2004
landed		 203 days
(6 months, 19 days)		 Continuing mission. [61]
Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander 2 March 2004 May 2014 to arrive at
Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko		 N/A In transit. [62] [63]
Deep Impact impactor 12 January 2005 4 July 2005
impacted Comet Tempel		 174 days
(5 months, 23 days)		 First probe to directly impact a comet. [64]
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 12 August 2005 10 March 2006
entered orbit		 211 days
(6 months, 27 days)		 Continuing mission. [65]
Venus Express Orbiter 9 November 2005 11 April 2006
entered orbit		 154 days
(5 months, 3 days)		 Continuing mission to study the atmosphere of Venus. [66]
Phoenix Lander 4 August 2007 25 May 2008
landed		 296 days
(9 months, 22 days)		 Continuing mission, collecting soil samples near Mars' north pole to elucidate the history of water on Mars. [67]
Dawn 27 September 2007 October 2011
scheduled to reach 4 Vesta		 N/A In transit. To depart Vesta for 1 Ceres April 2012. [68]
Spacecraft Launched Reached planet Flight duration Notes Ref

[edit] Passing flights

The following flights flew by the target object at close range, but did not match velocity with their target or continued to another destination.

Spacecraft Launched Closest approach Time elapsed Notes Ref
Venera 1 12 February 1961 19 May 1961 97 days
(3 months, 8 days)		 Contact with Venera 1 was lost 7 days after launch. It was the first spacecraft to fly by Venus, or indeed any planet. [69]
Mariner 2 27 August 1962 14 December 1962 110 days
(3 months, 18 days)		 Mariner 2 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,773 km. It was the first spacecraft to return data from Venus. [70]
Mars 1 1 November 1962 19 June 1963 231 days
(7 months, 19 days)		 Mars 1 flew within approximately 193,000 km of Mars. Contact with it was lost on 21 March 1963. [71]
Zond 1 2 April 1964 14 July? 1964 104 days
(3 months, 13 days)		 Zond 1 was intended as a Venus lander. Contact with it was lost en route. [72]
Mariner 4 28 November 1964 15 July 1965 230 days
(7 months, 18 days)		 Mariner 4 returned the first close-up images of Mars. [73]
Zond 2 30 November 1964 6 August 1965 250 days
(8 months, 8 days)		 Zond 2 flew within 1,500 km of Mars. Contact with it was lost en route. [74]
Venera 2 12 November 1965 27 February 1966 108 days
(3 months, 16 days)		 Venera 2 flew by Venus at a distance of 24,000 km, but ceased to operate en route. [75]
Mariner 5 14 June 1967 19 October 1967 128 days
(4 months, 6 days)		 Mariner 5 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 5,000 km. [76]
Mariner 6 24 February 1969 31 July 1969 158 days
(5 months, 8 days)		 Mariner 6 flew by Mars. [77]
Mariner 7 27 February 1969 5 August 1969 160 days
(5 months, 10 days)		 Mariner 7 flew by Mars. [78]
Pioneer 10 3 March 1972 3 December 1973 641 days
(1 yr, 9 mos, 1 d)		 Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter. [79]
Pioneer 11 6 April 1973 4 December 1974 608 days
(1 yr, 7 mo, 29 d)		 Pioneer 11 flew by Jupiter. [80]
1 September 1979 2340 days
(6 yr, 4 mo, 27 d)		 Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to fly by Saturn.
Mars 4 21 July 1973 10 February 1974 205 days
(6 months, 21 days)		 Mars 4 failed to enter Mars orbit and flew by it instead. [81]
Mars 6 5 August 1973 12 March 1974 220 days
(7 months, 8 days)		 The Mars 6 bus flew by Mars at a minimum distance of 1600 km. Also carried a lander. [82]
Mars 7 9 August 1973 9 March 1974 213 days
(7 months, 1 day)		 Mars 7's lander was released prematurely and missed Mars. [83]
Mariner 10 3 November 1973 5 February 1974 95 days
(3 months, 3 days)		 Mariner 10 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 5768 km. It was the first use of a gravity assist by an interplanetary spacecraft. [84]
29 March 1974 147 days
(4 months, 27 days)		 Mariner 10 flew by Mercury at a minimum distance of 704 km.
21 September 1974 323 days
(10 months, 19 days)		 Mariner 10 flew by Mercury at a minimum distance of 48,069 km.
16 March 1975 499 days
(1 yr, 4 mo, 14 d)		 Mariner 10 flew by Mercury at a minimum distance of 327 km.
Voyager 2 20 August 1977 9 July 1979 689 days
(1 yr, 10 mo, 20 d)		 Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter. [85]
5 August 1981 1447 days
(3 yr, 11 mo, 17 d)		 Voyager 2 flew by Saturn.
24 January 1986 3080 days
(8 yr, 5 mo, 5 d)		 Voyager 2 flew by Uranus and was the first spacecraft to visit it.
25 August 1989 4389 days
(12 yr, 6 days)		 Voyager 2 flew by Neptune and was the first spacecraft to visit it.
Voyager 1 5 September 1977 5 March 1979 547 days
(1 yr, 6 mo, 1 d)		 Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and returned the first detailed images. [86]
12 November 1980 1165 days
(3 yr, 2 mo, 8 d)		 Voyager 1 flew by Saturn.
ICE 12 August 1978 11 September 1985 2588 days
(7 yr, 1 mo)		 ICE flew by Comet Giacobini-Zinner. It was previously the solar monitor ISEE3. [87]
28 March 1986 2786 days
(7 yr, 7 mo, 17 d)		 ICE flew by Comet Halley at a minimum distance of 32 million km.
Venera 11 9 September 1978 25 December 1978 108 days
(3 months, 17 days)		 The Venera 11 bus flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,000 km and left a lander. [88]
Venera 12 14 September 1978 19 December 1978 97 days
(3 months, 6 days)		 The Venera 12 bus flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,000 km and left a lander. [89]
Venera 13 30 October 1981 1 March 1982 123 days
(4 months, 2 days)		 The Venera 13 bus flew by Venus and left a lander. [90]
Venera 14 4 November 1981 5 March 1982 122 days
(4 months, 2 days)		 The Venera 14 bus flew by Venus and left a lander. [91]
Vega 1 15 December 1984 11 June 1985 179 days
(5 months, 28 days)		 Vega 1 flew by Venus. [92]
6 March 1986 447 days
(1 yr, 2 mo, 20 d)		 Vega 1 flew by Comet Halley at a minimum distance of 8,890 km.
Vega 2 21 December 1984 15 June 1985 177 days
(5 months, 26 days)		 Vega 2 flew by Venus. [93]
9 March 1986 444 days
(1 yr, 2 mo, 17 d)		 Vega 2 flew by Comet Halley at a minimum distance of 8,890 km.
Sakigake 7 January 1985 11 March 1986 429 days
(1 yr, 2 mo, 5 d)		 Sakigake flew by Comet Halley at a minimum distance of 6.99 million km. [94]
Giotto 2 July 1985 14 March 1986 256 days
(8 months, 13 days)		 Giotto flew by Comet Halley at a minimum distance of 596 km. [95]
10 July 1992 2566 days
(7 yr, 9 d)		 Giotto flew by Comet Grigg-Skjellerup
Suisei 18 August 1985 8 March 1986 203 days
(6 mo, 19 d)		 Suisei flew by Comet Halley at a minimum distance of 151,000 km. [96]
Galileo 18 October 1989 10 February 1990 116 days
(3 months, 24 days)		 Galileo flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 16,000 km as a gravity assist en route to Jupiter. [97]
29 October 1991 742 days
(2 yr, 12 d)		 Galileo flew by asteroid 951 Gaspra at a minimum distance of 1900 km en route to Jupiter.
28 August 1993 1411 days
(3 yr, 10 mo, 11 d)		 Galileo flew by asteroid 243 Ida at a minimum distance of 2400 km en route to Jupiter. It discovered the first known asteroid moon, Dactyl.
Ulysses 6 October 1990 8 February 1992 491 days
(1 yr, 4 mo, 3 d)		 Ulysses flew by Jupiter for a gravity assist en route to solar polar observations [98]
4 February 2004 4870 days
(13 yr, 3 mo, 30 d)		 Ulysses flew by Jupiter at a minimum distance of 0.8 AU.
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous 17 February 1996 27 June 1997 497 days
(1 yr, 4 mo, 11 d)		 NEAR flew by asteroid 253 Mathilde en route to Eros. [99]
23 December 1998 1041 days
(2 yr, 10 mo, 7 d)		 NEAR flew by asteroid 433 Eros at a minimum distance of 3827 km after a failed attempt to enter orbit. NEAR attained orbit later (see Completed Flights).
Cassini 15 October 1997 26 April 1998 194 days
(6 months, 12 days)		 Cassini flew by Venus for a first gravity assist en route to Saturn. [100] [101]
24 June 1999 618 days
(1 yr, 8 mo, 10 d)		 Cassini flew by Venus for a second gravity assist en route to Saturn.
23 January 2000 831 days
(2 yr, 3 mo, 9 d)		 Cassini flew by asteroid 2685 Masursky en route to Saturn.
30 December 2000 1173 days
(3 yr, 2 mo, 16 d)		 Cassini flew by Jupiter for a gravity assist en route to Saturn.
Nozomi 3 July 1998 14 December 2003 1991 days
(5 yr, 5 mo, 12 d)		 Nozomi failed to attain an orbit around Mars and flew by it instead. [102]
Deep Space 1 24 October 1998 29 July 1999 279 days
(9 months, 6 days)		 Deep Space 1 flew by asteroid 9969 Braille. No close-up images were made due to a camera pointing error. [103]
22 September 2001 1065 days
(2 yr, 10 mo, 30 d)		 Deep Space 1 flew by Comet Borrelly and returned images.
Stardust 7 February 1999 2 November 2002 1365 days
(3 yr, 8 mo, 27 d)		 Stardust flew by asteroid 5535 Annefrank. [104]
21 January 2004 1810 days
(4 yr, 11 mo, 15 d)		 Stardust flew a sample return mission by Comet Wild.
14 February 2011 N/A Stardust is in transit to Comet Tempel on an extended mission.
Rosetta 2 March 2004 25 February 2007 1091 days
(2 yr, 11 mo, 24 d)		 Rosetta flew by Mars as a gravity assist on the way to future encounters. [105]
September 2008 N/A Rosetta is in transit to asteroid 2867 Šteins
July 2010 N/A Rosetta will continue to asteroid 21 Lutetia en route to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
MESSENGER 3 August 2004 24 October 2006 813 days
(2 yr, 2 mo, 22 d)		 Messenger flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 2990 km. This was for a gravity assist only; no data was collected. [106]
6 June 2007 1038 days
(2 yr, 10 mo, 4 d)		 Messenger flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 300 km en route to Mercury.
14 January 2008 1260 days
(3 yr, 5 mo, 12 d)		 Messenger flew by Mercury a first time en route to Mercury orbit insertion.
Deep Impact 12 January 2005 3 July 2005 173 days
(5 months, 22 days)		 Deep Impact flew by Comet Tempel. [107]
5 December 2008 N/A Deep Impact is in transit to fly by Comet Boethin on an extended mission.
New Horizons 19 January 2006 13 June 2006 146 days
(4 months, 26 days)		 New Horizons flew by asteroid 132524 APL en route to Pluto. [108]
28 February 2007 416 days
(1 yr, 1 mo, 20 d)		 New Horizons flew by Jupiter as a gravity assist en route to Pluto.
Dawn 27 September 2007 March 2009 N/A Dawn is in transit to Mars for a gravity assist en route to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres [109]
Spacecraft Launched Closest approach Time elapsed Notes Ref
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