Communications

John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, circling the planet three times.

The first spacecraft to fly by Mars and return close-up photographs of another planet.

The first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and fly past Jupiter.

The only spacecraft to visit all four giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

The most distant human-made object, first to enter interstellar space.

The fastest launch in history delivers the first close-up look at Pluto.

A solar-powered spacecraft dives through Jupiter’s radiation belts to probe its hidden interior.

An orbiter solves the mystery of how Mars lost its atmosphere to the solar wind.