Science in space

In the decades following the first Sputnik and Explorer satellites, the ability to put their instruments into outer space gave scientists the opportunity to acquire new information about the natural universe, information that in many cases would have been unobtainable any other way. Space science added a new dimension to the quest for knowledge, complementing and extending what had been gained from centuries of theoretical speculations and ground-based observations.

After Gagarins 1961 flight, space missions involving human crews carried out a range of significant research, from on-site geologic investigations on the Moon to a wide variety of observations and experiments aboard orbiting spacecraft. In particular, the presence in space of humans as experimenters and, in some cases, as experimental subjects facilitated studies in biomedicine and materials science. Nevertheless, most space science was, and continues to be, performed by robotic spacecraft in Earth orbit, in other locations from which they observe the universe, or on missions to various bodies in the solar system. In general, such missions are far less expensive than those involving humans and can carry sophisticated automated instruments to gather a wide variety of relevant data.

In addition to the United States and the Soviet Union, several other countries achieved the capability of developing and operating scientific spacecraft and thus carrying out their own space science missions. They include Japan, China, Canada, India, and a number of European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany, acting alone and through cooperative organizations, particularly the European Space Agency. Furthermore, many other countries became involved in space activities through the participation of their scientists in specific missions. Bilateral or multilateral cooperation between various countries in carrying out space science missions grew to be the usual way of proceeding.

Scientific research in space can be divided into five general areas: (1) solar and space physics, including study of the magnetic and electromagnetic fields in space and the various energetic particles also present, with particular attention to their interactions with Earth, (2) exploration of the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and dust in the solar system, (3) study of the origin, evolution, and current state of the varied objects in the universe beyond the solar system, (4) research on nonliving and living materials, including humans, in the very low gravity levels of the space environment, and (5) study of Earth from space.

The first scientific discovery made with instruments orbiting in space was the existence of the Van Allen radiation belts, discovered by Explorer 1 in 1958. Subsequent space missions investigated Earths magnetosphere, the surrounding region of space in which the planets magnetic field exerts a controlling effect (see Earth: The magnetic field and magnetosphere). Of particular and ongoing interest has been the interaction of the flux of charged particles emitted by the Sun, called the solar wind, with the magnetosphere. Early space science investigations showed, for example, that luminous atmospheric displays known as auroras are the result of this interaction, and scientists came to understand that the magnetosphere is an extremely complex phenomenon.

The focus of inquiry in space physics was later extended to understanding the characteristics of the Sun, both as an average star and as the primary source of energy for the rest of the solar system, and to exploring space between the Sun and Earth and other planets (see interplanetary medium). The magnetospheres of other planets, particularly Jupiter with its strong magnetic field, also came under study. Scientists sought a better understanding of the internal dynamics and overall behaviour of the Sun, the underlying causes of variations in solar activity, and the way in which those variations propagate through space and ultimately affect Earths magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. The concept of space weather was advanced to describe the changing conditions in the Sun-Earth region of the solar system. Variations in space weather can cause geomagnetic storms that interfere with the operation of satellites and even systems on the ground such as power grids.

To carry out the investigations required for addressing these scientific questions, the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, and Japan developed a variety of space missions, often in a coordinated fashion. In the United States, early studies of the Sun were undertaken by a series of Orbiting Solar Observatory satellites (launched 196275) and the astronaut crews of the Skylab space station in 197374, using that facilitys Apollo Telescope Mount. These were followed by the Solar Maximum Mission satellite (launched 1980). ESA developed the Ulysses mission (1990) to explore the Suns polar regions. Solar-terrestrial interactions were the focus of many of the Explorer series of spacecraft (195875) and the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory satellites (196469). In the 1980s NASA, ESA, and Japans Institute of Space and Astronautical Science undertook a cooperative venture to develop a comprehensive series of space missions, named the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Program, that would be aimed at full investigation of the Sun-Earth connection. This program was responsible for the U.S. Wind (1994) and Polar (1996) spacecraft, the European Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO; 1995) and Cluster (2000) missions, and the Japanese Geotail satellite (1992). Among many other missions, NASA has launched a number of satellites, including Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED, 2001); the Japanese-U.S.-U.K. collaboration Hinode (2006); and Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO, 2006), part of its Solar Terrestrial Probes program. The Solar Dynamics Observatory (2010) and the twin Van Allen Probes (2012) were part of another NASA program called Living with a Star. A two-satellite European/Chinese mission called Double Star (200304) studied the impact of the Sun on Earths environment.

From the start of space activity, scientists recognized that spacecraft could gather scientifically valuable data about the various planets, moons, and smaller bodies in the solar system. Both the United States and the U.S.S.R. attempted to send robotic missions to the Moon in the late 1950s. The first four U.S. Pioneer spacecraft, Pioneer 03, launched in 1958, were not successful in returning data about the Moon. The fifth mission, Pioneer 4 (1959), was the first U.S. spacecraft to escape Earths gravitational pull; it flew by the Moon at twice the planned distance but returned some useful data. Three Soviet missions, Luna 13, explored the vicinity of the Moon in 1959, confirming that it had no appreciable magnetic field and sending back the first-ever images of its far side. Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to fly past the Moon, beating Pioneer 4 by two months. Luna 2, in making a hard landing on the lunar surface, was the first spacecraft to strike another celestial object. Later, in the 1960s and early 1970s, Luna and Lunokhod spacecraft soft-landed on the Moon, and some gathered soil samples and returned them to Earth.

In the 1960s the United States became the first country to send a spacecraft to the vicinity of other planets; Mariner 2 flew by Venus in December 1962, and Mariner 4 flew past Mars in July 1965. Among significant accomplishments of planetary missions in succeeding decades were the U.S. Viking landings on Mars in 1976 and the Soviet Venera explorations of the atmosphere and surface of Venus from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. In the years since, the United States has continued an active program of solar system exploration, as did the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Japan launched missions to the Moon, Mars, and Halleys Comet and returned minute samples from the asteroid Itokawa. Europes first independent solar system mission, Giotto, also flew by Halley. After the turn of the 21st century, it sent missions to the Moon and Mars and an orbiter-lander, Rosetta-Philae, to a comet. India and China also sent the Chandrayaan-1 (2008) and two Change (2007, 2010) missions, respectively, to orbit the Moon. Chinas Change 3 mission also landed a small rover, Yutu, on the Moon in 2013. NASAs Dawn mission (2007) orbited the large asteroid Vesta from 2011 to 2012 and entered orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015.

Early on, scientists planned to conduct solar system exploration in three stages: initial reconnaissance from spacecraft flying by a planet, comet, or asteroid; detailed surveillance from a spacecraft orbiting the object; and on-site research after landing on the object or, in the case of a giant gas planet, by sending a probe into its atmosphere. By the early 21st century, all three of those stages had been carried out for the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and a near-Earth asteroid. Several Soviet and U.S. robotic spacecraft have landed on Venus and the Moon, and the United States has landed spacecraft on the surface of Mars. A long-term, detailed surveillance of Jupiter and its moons began in 1995 when the U.S. Galileo spacecraft took up orbit around the planet, at the same time releasing a probe into the turbulent Jovian atmosphere. In 2001 the U.S. Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft landed on the asteroid Eros and transmitted information from its surface for more than two weeks. Among the rocky inner planets, only Mercury was for some time relatively neglected. In the first half century of space exploration, Mercury was visited just once; the U.S. Mariner 10 probe made three flybys of the planet in 197475. In 2004 the U.S. Messenger spacecraft was launched to Mercury for a series of flybys beginning in 2008 and entered orbit around the planet in 2011.

As of 2017, the exploration of the two outer giant gas planetsUranus and Neptuneremained at the first stage. In a series of U.S. missions launched in the 1970s, Pioneer 10 flew by Jupiter, whereas Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 and 2 flew by both Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 then went on to travel past Uranus and Neptune. On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 became the first space probe to enter interstellar space when it crossed the heliopause, the outer limit of the Suns magnetic field and solar wind. The Voyagers were expected to still be returning data through 2020. The U.S. Cassini spacecraft, launched in 1997, began a long-term surveillance mission in the Saturnian system in 2004; the following year its European-built Huygens probe descended to the surface of Titan, Saturns largest moon. In 2017 the Cassini mission ended when it burned up in Saturns atmosphere. In 2011 the United States launched the Juno mission, which studied the origin and evolution of Jupiter after it arrived at the giant planet in 2016. Thus, every significant body in the solar system, even the dwarf planet Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, has been visited at least once by a spacecraft. (The U.S. New Horizons spacecraft, launched in 2006, flew by Pluto and Charon in 2015.)

These exploratory missions sought information on the origin and evolution of the solar system and on the various objects that it comprises, including chemical composition; surface topography; data on magnetic fields, atmospheres, and volcanic activity; and, particularly for Mars, evidence of water in the present or past and perhaps even of extraterrestrial life in some form.

What has been learned to date confirms that Earth and the rest of the solar system formed at about the same time from the same cloud of gas and dust surrounding the Sun. The four outer giant gas planets are roughly similar in size and chemical composition, but each has a set of moons that differ widely in their characteristics, and in some ways they and their satellites resemble miniature solar systems. The four rocky inner planets had a common origin but followed very different evolutionary paths and today have very different surfaces, atmospheres, and internal activity. Ongoing comparative study of the evolution of Venus, Mars, and Earth could provide important insights into Earths future and its continued ability to support life.

The question of whether life has ever existed elsewhere in the solar system continues to intrigue both scientists and the general public. The United States sent two Viking spacecraft to land on the surface of Mars in 1976. Each contained three experiments intended to search for traces of organic material that might indicate the presence of past or present life-forms; none of the experiments produced positive results. Twenty years later, a team of scientists studying a meteorite of Martian origin found in Antarctica announced the discovery of possible microscopic fossils resulting from past organic life. Their claim was not universally accepted, but it led to an accelerated program of Martian exploration focused on the search for evidence of the action of liquid water, thought necessary for life to have evolved. Beginning in 2001, the United States sent a series of follow the water missions to orbit or land on Mars, including 2001 Mars Odyssey (2001), two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity (2003), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005), and the Curiosity rover (2011). Europe also launched the Mars Express mission in 2003. A major long-term goal of the Mars exploration program is to return samples of the Martian surface to Earth for laboratory analysis.

There are indications that water may be present in the outer solar system. The Galileo mission provided images and other data related to Jupiters moon Europa that suggest the presence of a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust. Future missions are needed to confirm the existence of this ocean and search for evidence of organic or biological processes in it. The Cassini-Huygens mission confirmed the presence of lakes of liquid methane on Saturns moon Titan and suggested the likely existence of liquid water underneath the surface of another moon, Enceladus.

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