Talk:Timeline of Solar System exploration

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page should probably be move to something like Timeline of solar system exploration as it is not limited to actual planets. It already includes comets, the sun, etc. Rmhermen 00:32, Mar 25, 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Cancelled missions

Do missions that have been cancelled really belong in this topic (either in the "past" or "planned" section)? JTN 19:14, 2004 Aug 10 (UTC)

  • No. Hektor 14:06, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
    • Yes Rmhermen 20:20, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I am removing the cancelled missions (but not failures) since they clutter the timeline with speculative proposals that achieved nothing. Eluchil404 14:51, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
    • Thanks Eluchil404. Personally, I don't mind if "canceled" notices are left up for a little while after a mission is canceled--readers are likely to have not heard the news, so it provides useful information. But I definitely agree that they shouldn't be left around forever, unless somebody wants to start a Timeline of proposed Solar System exploration. vasi 09:25, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] China

Are Chinese missions included?

Yes Rmhermen 15:09, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nationalities

I reverted the additional of nationalities and national firsts added by a recent anon editor. This is already covered in the similar list List of planetary probes which is organized by target instead of by time sequence. I don't think the origin needs to be duplicated and I especially disagree with the national firsts. Opinions? Rmhermen 15:09, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] the 1940s

I put the date of the first postwar V2 launch to get past 100 miles in the timeline. You've got to start somewhere, and the first verified unmaned spaceflight is as good as any. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.108.2.161 (talk) 16:13, 16 December 2006 (UTC).

Except that wasn't the first. Rmhermen 04:26, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
  • And even if it was the first, it certainly wasn't "Solar System exploration", I think I'll be removing them if that's alright with everyone. vasi 09:33, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] More iffy missions

I'd appreciate thoughts on whether the following items should be left in or not:

  • The early Earth orbiters (Sputnik 1 through Vanguard 1): These were definitely "exploratory", perhaps not so much "solar system". I don't think we want to include all Earth orbiters on this timeline, so we could be consistent and exclude them all. Or maybe include only the first (Sputnik) because it provided such an impetus for further progress?
  • Vostok 1 (Gagarin): Again, it's not really consistent but I don't terribly mind leaving it in because of the historical importance.
  • Skylab: I don't see any way we can include Skylab but not Salyut or Mir. I favor leaving all space stations off the list (well, until we start seeing some outside Earth orbit).
  • Space telescopes (Hubble and Kepler): Hubble certainly has contributed to our knowledge about the Solar System, but I'm not sure if I'd call it "exploration". Spitzer is outside of Earth orbit and has also been used for viewing Solar System objects, so if we include Hubble we also should include it. Kepler and the Terrestrial Planet Finder don't really have much to do with the solar system aside from being in it, so I'd rather leave those out. Not sure what to do about JWST...

vasi 09:56, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd say keep everything with a scientific payload that made a notable first in terms of area directly accessed (100km sub orbital, Earth orbit, etc). Human spaceflight should probably follow a similar pattern (i.e. Vostok 1, Apollo 8, Apollo 11) or be cut altogether. Space telescopes should probably be cut as outside the scope of the article unless we want to include notable telescopic discoveries generally since their location is of secondary importance when it comes to exploration. In any event JWST should be treated the same as Hubble. Eluchil404 12:11, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mistake

Mars 2 wasn't the first Mars orbiter. Mariner 9 got there before Mars 2. Shrewpelt 17:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Vikings

This totally ignores the Vikings progress. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shark113 (talk • contribs) 00:51, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Viking 1 and 2 are listed but they were not the first Mars landers. Rmhermen (talk) 13:30, 10 June 2008 (UTC)