Featured Missions
Our mission milestones showcase the breadth and depth of NASA science.
Europa Clipper
Launched Oct. 14, 2024, Europa Clipper’s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.
Lunar Trailblazer
Launching in 2024, the goal of Lunar Trailblazer is to understand the form, abundance, and distribution of water on the Moon, and the lunar water cycle.
NISAR
Launching in 2024, NISAR will systematically map Earth and study changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice in fine detail, as climate change warms the air and ocean.
Why Does NASA Want to Explore Jupiter’s Ocean Moon?
Everywhere there’s water on Earth, there’s life. Does that hold true elsewhere in our solar system? NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will investigate Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which — with its subsurface ocean — is one of the most promising places in our solar system to find environments capable of supporting life.
Learn More about Europa ClipperNASA Science Fleet Chart
NASA Science missions circle the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, and many other destinations within our Solar System, including spacecraft that look out even further into our universe. The Science Fleet depicts the scope of NASA’s activity and how our missions have permeated throughout the solar system.
Download the Science Fleet Chart
All Science Missions
Filters
ST5
ST5 was a mission born of the New Millennium Program, which was established to identify, develop, build, and test innovative…
ST6
Since the dawn of the space age, unmanned spacecraft have flown blind, with little or no ability to make decisions…
Stardust / Stardust NExT
Stardust was the first spacecraft to return samples from a comet to Earth.
Surveyor 1
What was Surveyor 1? NASA’s Surveyor 1 completed the first true soft-landing on the Moon. The mission was considered a…
Surveyor 2
A thruster malfunction caused this U.S. lunar lander to crash near Copernicus crater on the Moon.
Surveyor 3
What was Surveyor 3? NASA’s Surveyor 3 was the second in the Surveyor series to make a soft landing on…
Surveyor 4
What was Surveyor 4? NASA’s Surveyor 4 was the fourth in a series of spacecraft designed to make a soft…
Surveyor 5
What was Surveyor 5? NASA’s Surveyor 5 lander was the first spacecraft to do a soil analysis on the Moon,…
Surveyor 6
Surveyor 6 sent back 29,952 images of the Moon's surface from the Sinus Medii region.
Surveyor 7
This final uncrewed Surveyor Moon lander mission was dedicated purely to lunar science.
Surveyor Model 1
This second U.S. practice run at a Moon landing went off without a hitch.
Surveyor Model 2
A thrust imbalance prevented this early spaceflight test from achieving its simulated Moon mission.
Surveyor Model SD-1
A premature engine shutdown caused this U.S. practice Moon mission fall back to the launch pad and explode.
TIROS
The Television Infrared Observation Satellite Program (TIROS) The TIROS Program (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) was NASA’s first experimental step to…
TOMS-EP
The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, launched in July 1996 onboard an Earth Probe Satellite (TOMS/EP), continues NASA’s long-term daily mapping…
TRACE
TRACE was a satellite mission designed to deepen understanding of our dynamic sun’s activity, by exploring the connections between fine-scale…
Ulysses
Solar Polar Orbiter
Venus Express
What was Venus Express? Venus Express was the first European spacecraft to orbit Venus. The original mission was expected to…
Viking 1
Viking 1 made the first truly successful landing on Mars. The Soviet Mars 3 lander claimed a technical first, but…
Viking 2
Mars Lander & Orbiter
Yohkoh
Orbit: Low-Earth Orbit Yohkoh (“Sunbeam”) was a Japanese solar mission with USA and UK collaborators. It was launched into Earth…