Unmanned space mission

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Sputnik 1

Unmanned space missions are space missions using remote-controlled spacecraft. The first unmanned space mission was Sputnik I, launched October 4, 1957 to orbit the Earth.

While the terms 'manned' and 'unmanned' are not intentionally gender-specific, some people prefer gender-neutral terms such as unpiloted or uncrewed space missions. Space missions where animals but no humans are on-board are considered unmanned missions. Space missions with a mixed human and other animal crew are considered manned missions.

Many space missions are more suited to unmanned missions rather than manned space missions, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus or the vicinity of Jupiter are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are too distant to reach with current manned spaceflight technology, so unmanned probes are the only way to explore them.

1 Control
2 History
3 Types of missions
4 Active space probes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Control

Although generally referred to as remote controlled, some unmanned vehicles have not been. The earliest orbital probes such as Sputnik I and Explorer I transmitted one way data to earth; they were not remote controlled. Soon after the first probes, command systems were developed to allow remote control.

Unmanned space probes use telemetry to radio back to earth acquired data and vehicle status information. Most probes have command systems to allow remote control from the ground. However, increased autonomy is important for distant probes where the light travel time prevents rapid decision and control from earth. Newer probes such as Cassini-Huygens and Mars Exploration Rover are highly autonomous and can operate independently for periods of time using on-board computers.

[edit] History

Unmanned space missions have been flown by many countries. Most American unmanned missions have been coordinated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and European missions by the European Space Operations Centre, part of ESA (the European Space Agency). The ESA has conducted relatively fewer space exploration missions in the past (one example is the Giotto mission, which encountered comet Halley), but have launched several interplanetary spacecraft in recent years (e.g. Rosetta space probe, Mars Express, Venus Express). ESA has, however, launched many spacecraft to carry out astronomy, and is a collaborator with NASA on the Hubble Space Telescope. There have been many successful Russian space missions. There have also been a few Japanese, Chinese and Indian missions.

[edit] Types of missions

Unmanned space missions may be divided into two classes: artificial satellites, which orbit the Earth, and space probes, which leave Earth's orbit to explore the rest of the solar system. See the relevant articles for more information.