• Home
  • Chemistry
  • Astronomy
  • Energy
  • Nature
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Electronics
  • Space Probes That Orbited Earth: A Notable List
    It's a bit of a trick question! While many space probes have flown *by* Earth on their way to other destinations, only a handful have actually *visited* Earth in the sense of entering orbit and studying the planet. Here are a few notable examples:

    1. The Apollo missions (1968-1972):

    * These missions were designed to land humans on the moon, but the Apollo command modules orbited Earth before and after their lunar journeys.

    2. The International Space Station (ISS):

    * While not technically a single probe, the ISS has been continuously orbiting Earth for over 20 years, with astronauts from various countries living and conducting research onboard.

    3. The Hubble Space Telescope:

    * This iconic telescope has been in low Earth orbit since 1990, providing us with breathtaking images of the universe.

    4. Various Earth observation satellites:

    * Numerous satellites are dedicated to studying Earth's atmosphere, land, and oceans. These include weather satellites, climate monitoring satellites, and spy satellites.

    5. Some robotic spacecraft:

    * Some probes launched to other planets have done flybys of Earth to gain gravity assists, using Earth's gravity to slingshot them further out into the solar system. These include:

    * Voyager 1 and 2

    * New Horizons

    * Cassini

    It's important to note that not all spacecraft that have flown by Earth are considered "visits" as they weren't specifically designed to study Earth. Their primary mission was to explore other celestial bodies.

    Science Discoveries © www.scienceaq.com