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List of missions to minor planets

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List of missions to minor planets is a listing of spaceflight missions to minor planets, which are category of astronomical body that excludes planets, moons and comets, but orbit the Sun. Most missions to minor planets have been to asteroids or dwarf planets.

An artist's impression of New Horizons' close encounter with the Plutonian system

Spacecraft visits to minor planets have mostly been flybys, and have ranged from dedicated missions to incidental flybys and targets of opportunity for spacecraft that have already completed their missions. The first spacecraft to visit an asteroid was Pioneer 10, which flew past an unnamed asteroid on 2 August 1972; a distant incidental encounter while the probe was en route to Jupiter. The first dedicated mission was NEAR Shoemaker, which was launched in February 1996, and entered orbit around 433 Eros in February 2000, having first flown past 253 Mathilde. NEAR was also the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, surviving what was intended to be an impact with Eros at 20:01 on 12 February 2001 at the planned end of its mission. As a result of its unexpected survival, the spacecraft's mission was extended until 1 March to allow data to be collected from the surface.

Missions

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There have been thirty-three overall missions towards minor planets, with four of them being flyby missions that were not intended to explore minor planets, marked in grey background.[1][2]

Many minor planets are in two domains:

Statistics

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Major milestones

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Legend

  Milestone achieved
  Milestone not achieved
First to achieve

Asteroid belt
Country/Agency Flyby Orbit Impact Touchdown Lander Hopper Rover Sample return
United States United States Pioneer 10, (unnamed asteroid) 1972 NEAR Shoemaker, (Eros) 2000 NEAR Shoemaker, (Eros) 2001 † OSIRIS-REx, 2020 OSIRIS-REx, 2023
Japan Japan SCI, (Ryugu) 2014 Hayabusa, (Itokawa) 2005 HIBOU and OWL, (Ryugu) 2018 Hayabusa, (Itokawa) 2010 †
ESA Rosetta, (Šteins) 2008 Rosetta, (Churyumov–Gerasimenko) 2014 Philae, (Churyumov–Gerasimenko) 2014
China China Chang'e, (Toutatis) 2012
Italy Italy LICIACube, (Didymos system) 2022
Kuiper belt
Country/Agency Flyby Orbit
United States United States New Horizons, (Pluto) 2015

Future missions

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The same spacecfraft used for Bennu mission will be used in studying Apophis. While the spacecraft remained same, only the mission was renamed as OSIRIS-APEX.

References

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  1. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  2. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  3. ^ "45 Years Ago, Pioneer 10 First to Explore Jupiter". It [pioneer 10] passed within 5.5 million miles of an unnamed 0.5-mile diameter asteroid on Aug. 2
  4. ^ "Solar System Exploration - Galileo". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Solar System Exploration - Clementine". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Solar System Exploration - NEAR Shoemaker". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  7. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Cassini". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Solar System Exploration - Cassini". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  9. ^ Wilson–Harrington is catalogued as both a comet and an asteroid
  10. ^ a b "Solar System Exploration - Deep Space 1". NASA. Archived from the original on 18 August 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  11. ^ Rayman, Marc D.; Varghese, Philip (2001). "The Deep Space 1 Extended Mission" (PDF). Acta Astronautica. 48 (5–12): 693–705. Bibcode:2001AcAau..48..693R. doi:10.1016/s0094-5765(01)00044-3.
  12. ^ "STARDUST Successfully Images Asteroid Annefrank During Dress Rehearsal". NASA. 4 November 2002. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  13. ^ "Due to ion engine failure, PROCYON will not fly by an asteroid".
  14. ^ "NASA Continues Psyche Asteroid Mission". JPL. NASA. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  15. ^ "ESA - Hera". Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Asteroid mining startup to launch mission in early 2024". mining.com. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  17. ^ "AstroForge Conducts Hot Fire Test Ahead of Early 2024 Mission". payloadspace.com. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Astroforge's Brokkr-2 Spacecraft Aims to Commercialize Space Mining". ts2.space. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  19. ^ "This Asteroid Mining Startup Is Ready To Launch The First-Ever Commercial Deep Space Mission". forbes.com. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  20. ^ "天问二号已基本完成初样研制,预计2025年5月前后发射" [Tianwen-2 has basically completed the development of the first sample and is expected to be launched around May 2025]. Guancha. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  21. ^ Jones, Andrew (5 August 2020). "China is moving ahead with lunar south pole and near-Earth asteroid missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  22. ^ Jones, Andrew (30 June 2021). "China outlines space plans to 2025". SpaceNews. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  23. ^ a b "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" [Space Science and Exploration Mission Progress] (PDF). ISAS (in Japanese). CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  24. ^ Foust, Jeff (3 June 2023). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  25. ^ Foust, Jeff (10 October 2024). "Japan's H3 to launch Emirati asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 October 2024.