Top 4 Successful List Of Missions To Saturn

Humans are too curious about space exploration and they are sending out different missions to study the planets of the solar system. We have already discussed the Mars landing missions in detail and now we will discuss the four successful missions to Saturn. All the successful probe on NASA has been done by NASA where only one orbiter mission included within four successful missions to Saturn, here is the list of 4 successful missions to Saturn,

List Of Missions To Saturn

1.Cassini–Huygens, Orbiter

The Cassini–Huygens is a space research mission also known as Cassini is a joined space mission of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The purpose is to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites.
This is the fourth space probe to Saturn and also the first one to enter the orbit of Saturn. The orbiter has been named after the astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.
The mission was launched on October 15, 1997, and it is active for nearly 20 years, with 13 years spent orbiting Saturn and studying the planet and its system after entering orbit on July 1, 2004. The mission ended on September 15, 2017, when the orbiter entered the upper atmosphere and it burned up to protect Saturn moons.
The mission was originally scheduled for four years from June 2004 to May 2008. This has been extended for another two years till September 2010 and named as the Cassini Equinox Mission.

Also Read: 10 Space Shuttle Disasters In History Of Mankind

Image Source: Wikimedia

2.Voyager 2, Flyby

Voyager 2 is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, in order to study the outer planet majorly Jupiter and Saturn and even further encounters with Uranus and Neptune.
The mission was successful in visiting the Jovian system in 1979, the Saturnian system in 1981, a Uranian system in 1986, and the Neptunian system in 1989.
The mission discovered a 14th moon at Jupiter and is also the first human-made object to fly past Uranus. It is also successful in flying by Neptune and discovered five moons, four rings, and a “Great Dark Spot.”
The orbiter is also helpful in studying temperature variations and the density level of the Saturn atmosphere.

Image Source: Ryan Howerter

3.Voyager 1

Voyager 1 is a space mission launched on September 5, 1977, and specially targeted to study the outer Solar System.
The orbiter is in operation for 43 years, 7 months and 16 days as of April 22, 2024, and still in communication with NASA.
Voyager 1 travelled a distance of 127.44 AU till June 27, 2014, and the main objective is to study the flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
This has made the closest approach to Titan, Moon of Saturn and shared over 900 high-resolution images of Saturn’s Moons in total.

Image Source: Wikipedia

4.Pioneer 11

Pioneer 11 is the first mission or orbiter to study Saturn but the mission ended in 1995.
It is sister aircraft to Pioneer 10 that was boosted by the engine TE-M-364-4 to take the spacecraft away from the Earth with a velocity of 32,000 miles per hour.
The greatest discovery of the Pioneer 10 is the discovery of a new moon and the F-ring of Saturn.
This is also known as Pioneer G is a robotic space probe to study the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays.
The last data received from the spacecraft is on November 24, 1995.