1 of 25
NASA's Wind Spacecraft
Credit: NASA
Artist's rendering of NASA's Wind probe, which launched in 1994 to investigate the solar wind.
2 of 25
NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer
Credit: NASA
An artist's concept of NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft (ACE), which launched in 1997 to study space weather.
3 of 25
NASA and ESA's SOHO Spacecraft
Credit: NASA/ESA/Alex Lutkus
An artist's impression of the SOHO spacecraft (short for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory).
4 of 25
NASA's STEREO Spacecraft Observing Sun Storm
Credit: NASA
Artist's concept of the STEREO spacecraft observing a coronal mass ejection. When there's no CME to be found, STEREO still gathers images of the background stars.
5 of 25
MESSENGER in Orbit
Credit: NASA
An artist's conception shows NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft in orbit around Mercury.
6 of 25
Europe's Venus Express Probe
Credit: ESA.
An artist's interpretation of the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft orbiting the second planet in our solar system.
7 of 25
Japan's Akatsuki Venus Probe
Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita/JAXA
Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter "Akatsuki" was designed to study both the atmosphere and surface of Venus.
8 of 25
NASA Gives Two Probes New Orders: To the Moon
Credit: NASA
An artist's concept of NASA's twin ARTEMIS spacecraft, which moved from Earth orbit to lunar orbit in 2011.
9 of 25
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Credit: NASA/GSFC
Artist’s rendition of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter over the lunar surface.
10 of 25
The Spitzer Space Telescope
Artist's view of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope against the infrared sky.
11 of 25
Herschel Telescope Sees Cold, Early Universe
Credit: ESA – D. Ducros, 2009
Artist impression of the infrared Herschel spacecraft, which is helping scientists better understand the universe's early days.
12 of 25
Artist's Impression of Planck Spacecraft
Credit: ESA/C. Carreau
Artist's impression of the European Space Agency's Planck spacecraft. Planck's main goal is to study the Cosmic Microwave Background — the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang.
13 of 25
Progress of China's Chang'e 2 Moon Probe
Credit: CSLEP
This graphic from the China Lunar Exploration Program shows the progress of China's Chang'e 2 moon probe from its lunar orbit out to the L2 Lagrange point 1.5 million km from Earth.
14 of 25
Deep Impact's Comet Tempel 1 Visit
Credit: Ball Aerospace.
NASA's Deep Impact probe gave scientists their first close-up look at the interior of a comet when it hit. Here, an artist illustrates the 2005 encounter.
15 of 25
Europe's Mars Express Probe
Credit: ESA.
An artist's conception of the European Space Agency's Mars Express craft.
16 of 25
Mars Odyssey Spacecraft at Mars
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. The spacecraft serves as a vital relay for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. [Related: Mars Rover Curiosity Landing Coverage]
17 of 25
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Credit: NASA/JPL/Corby Waste
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes over the Red Planet's south polar region in this artist's concept illustration.
18 of 25
NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
During its 84th and 85th days (sols) on Mars in late 2012, NASA's huge Mars rover Curiosity snapped this newest mosaic self-portrait.
19 of 25
Opportunity Rover Studies Martian Rock
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Opportunity Mars rover used its front hazard-avoidance camera to take this picture showing the rover's arm extended toward a light-toned rock named Tisdale 2 on Aug. 23, 2011.
20 of 25
Dawn Probe Leaves Protoplanet Vesta
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrived at the giant asteroid Vesta in July 2011 and departed in September 2012 for the dwarf planet Ceres.
21 of 25
Europe's Rosetta Comet Mission
Credit: ESA
An artist's illustration of Rosetta's Philae lander on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta is due to arrive at the comet in mid-2014.
22 of 25
NASA's Juno Spacecraft
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Juno spacecraft passes in front of Jupiter in this artist's depiction. Juno is slated to arrive at the solar system's largest planet in 2016.
23 of 25
NASA's Cassini Probe
Credit: NASA/JPL
This artist's concept shows a flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
24 of 25
New Horizons at Pluto (Artist's View)
Credit: Southwest Research Institute
This artist’s concept shows NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its 2015 encounter with Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
25 of 25
Voyager 1 and 2 at Solar System's Edge
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Artist's concept of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 at the edge of the solar system.






















































