| SOHO |
This is another ESA-NASA designed satellite launched in 1995 to study the Sun and Solar winds in greater detail. The craft was nearly lost on 24-June-1998 during gyroscope calibration manoeuvres but was recovered months later. Then on 1-February-1999 a new method of attitude control was employed removing the reliance on the now failed gyroscopes.
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| Mars Express |
Launched at a time when the Mars Earth orbit was at its closest, the Mars Express orbiter was the ESA first interplanetary orbiter mission. It was paired with the Beagle-2 rover which failed on descent.
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| Hayabusa |
Japan's space agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa probe in 2003 to return samples from an asteroid. The mission included a hopper that would use the asteroid's low gravity to hop along its surface. Unfortunately the hopper was deployed to early and drifted off into space. The Hasabusa probe itself was therefore maneuvered to touch-down and scoop a sample of the asteroids surface. The probe is currently returning to Earth with its sample and is expected in 2010.
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| SMART-1 |
The ESA launched the SMART-1 lunar orbiter from Kourou by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. When the mission was completed in September-2006, SMART-1 was crashed into the Moon in an attempt to locate water.
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| Shenzhou 5 |
Shenzhou 5 was crewed by one astronaut Yang Liwei who orbited the Earth for 21 hours (14 orbits).
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| Rosetta |
Launched by an Ariane 5G+ launch vehicle, the ESA's Rosetta probe is designed to study two asteroids and then a comet in November-2014. The mission will include launching a lander and escorting the comet around the sun.
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| Shenzhou 6 |
China's second manned space flight saw a crew of two orbited the Earth for 5 days.
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| Venus Express |
Still in orbit around Venus, the Venus express robotic space craft was adapted from the Mars Express design by the ESA for Venus. Launched November-2005 the mission has been extended a number of times and is currently expected to end on 31-December-2012.
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| SELENE |
Launched 2007-09-14, SELENE (Kaguya) was Japan's second unmanned lunar orbiter. It remained in orbit until 10-June-2009 when as its final act it impacted the moon.
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| Chang'e-1 |
Chang'e-1 was launched 24-October-2007 and is China's first unmanned lunar orbiter. Its mission is to map the lunar surface. The mission was ended by plunging the craft into the moon on the 01-March-2009 and thus making China the third country to achieve this after the Soviet Union and America.
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| Shenzhou 7 |
This is China's third manned mission and featured a crew of three orbiting Earth. Of which Zhai Zhigang performed China's first space walk (EVA).
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| Chandrayaan-1 |
Launched 22-October-2008, Chandrayaan-1 was India's first unmanned lunar orbiter and included an impact probe. It achieved Lunar orbit 8-November and remained in orbit for 312 days before the mission was called short. On the 14-November an impact probe was released making India the fourth country to impact the moon. Communication was lost on 29-August-2009 and the mission was declared to be at an end.
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