Appendix 1: Venus Missions Sputnik 7 (USSR) Launch 02/04/1961 First attempted Venus atmosphere craft; upper stage failed to leave Earth orbit Venera 1 (USSR) Launch 02/12/1961 First attempted flyby; contact lost en route Mariner 1 (US) Launch 07/22/1961 Attempted flyby; launch failure Sputnik 19 (USSR) Launch 08/25/1962 Attempted flyby, stranded in Earth orbit Mariner 2 (US) Launch 08/27/1962 First successful Venus flyby Sputnik 20 (USSR) Launch 09/01/1962 Attempted flyby, upper stage failure Sputnik 21 (USSR) Launch 09/12/1962 Attempted flyby, upper stage failure Cosmos 21 (USSR) Launch 11/11/1963 Possible Venera engineering test flight or attempted flyby Venera 1964A (USSR) Launch 02/19/1964 Attempted flyby, launch failure Venera 1964B (USSR) Launch 03/01/1964 Attempted flyby, launch failure Cosmos 27 (USSR) Launch 03/27/1964 Attempted flyby, upper stage failure Zond 1 (USSR) Launch 04/02/1964 Venus flyby, contact lost May 14; flyby July 14 Venera 2 (USSR) Launch 11/12/1965 Venus flyby, contact lost en route Venera 3 (USSR) Launch 11/16/1965 Venus lander, contact lost en route, first Venus impact March 1, 1966 Cosmos 96 (USSR) Launch 11/23/1965 Possible attempted landing, craft fragmented in Earth orbit Venera 1965A (USSR) Launch 11/23/1965 Flyby attempt (launch failure) Venera 4 (USSR) Launch 06/12/1967 Successful atmospheric probe, arrived at Venus 10/18/1967 Mariner 5 (US) Launch 06/14/1967 Successful flyby 10/19/1967 Cosmos 167 (USSR) Launch 06/17/1967 Attempted atmospheric probe, stranded in Earth orbit Venera 5 (USSR) Launch 01/05/1969 Returned atmospheric data for 53 min on 05/16/1969 M. Carroll, Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds, 223 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-6917-0, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 224 appendix 1: venus missions Venera 6 (USSR) Launch01/10/1969 Returned atmospheric data for 51 min on 05/17/1969 Venera 7 (USSR) Launch 08/17, 1970 Lander returned data during descent and for 23 min on surface Cosmos 359 (USSR) Launch 08/22/1970 Possible lander; upper stage failure Venera 8 (USSR) Launch 03/27/1972 Atmospheric probe and lander; transmitted from surface for 50 min Cosmos 482 (USSR) Launch 03/31/1972 Upper stage failure Mariner 10 (US) Launch 11/04/1973 Venus flyby en route to Mercury; first closeup images of Venus Venera 9 (USSR) Launch 06/08/1975 Orbiter/lander; atmospheric studies, first images from surface of another planet, first artificial satellite of Venus 10/22 Venera 10 (USSR) Launch 06/14/1975 Orbiter/lander; atmospheric studies, images from surface Pioneer Venus 1 (US) Launch 05/20/1978 Radar orbiter, atmosphere studies Pioneer Venus 2 (US) Launch 08/08/1978 Bus and atmospheric probes (4) Venera 11 (USSR) Launch 09/09/1978 Orbiter/lander; some instruments failed, no imagery, detection of possible lightning Venera 12 (USSR) Launch 09/14/1978 Orbiter/lander; some instruments failed, no imagery Venera 13 (USSR) Launch 10/30/1981 Orbiter/lander; atmospheric studies and surface panoramas Venera 14 (USSR) Launch 11/04/1981 Orbiter/lander; atmospheric studies and surface panoramas Venera 15 (USSR) Launch 06/02/1983 Orbiter with radar mapper Venera 16 (USSR) Launch 06/07/1983 Orbiter with radar mapper Vega 1 (USSR) Launch 12/15/1984 Lander with balloon/Comet Halley flyby/first use of balloon on another world Vega 2 (USSR) Launch 12/21/1984 Lander with balloon/Comet Halley flyby Magellan (US) Launch 05/04/1989 Radar mapping orbiter Galileo (US) Launch 10/18/1989 Venus flyby en route to Jupiter Cassini (US/ESA) Launch 10/15/1997 Venus flyby en route to Saturn MESSENGER (US) Launch 08/03/2004 Two Venus flybys en route to Mercury orbit Venus Express (ESA) Launch 11/09/2005 Second European planetary spacecraft; Venus orbiter; first images of Venus south pole Appendix 2: Mars Missions Mars1960A (USSR) Launch 10/10/1960 Possible Mars flyby attempt; launch failure Mars1960B (USSR) Launch 10/14/1960 Mars flyby attempt; launch failure Sputnik 22 (USSR) Launch 10/24/1962 Mars flyby attempt; launch failure Mars 1 (USSR) Launch 11/01/1962 Mars flyby attempt; interplanetary studies carried out; contact lost 03/21/1963 Sputnik 24 (USSR) Launch 11/04/1962 Attempted Mars landing; upper stage failure; reentry 01/19/1963 Mariner 3 (US) Launch 11/05/1964 Attempted Mars flyby; shroud failure Mariner 4 (US) Launch 11/28/1964 First successful Mars flyby 07/15 and 16, 1965; 22 photos and other data received Zond 2 (USSR) Launch 11/30/1964 Flyby/lander attempt; contact lost May of 1965 Zond 3 (USSR) Launch 07/20/1965 Lunar flyby; returned images of Moon’s far side, flew test Mars trajectory Mariner 6 (US) Launch 02/26/1969 Second successful Mars flyby 07/31; 75 images and other data returned Mariner 7 (US) Launch 03/27/1969 Third Mars flyby; 126 images of southern hemisphere Mars1969A (USSR) Launch 03/27/1969 Flyby attempt; launch failure Mars1969B (USSR) Launch 04/02/1969 Flyby attempt; launch failure Mariner 8 (US) Launch 05/08/1971 Flyby attempt; launch failure Cosmos 419 (USSR) Launch 05/10/1971 Attempted orbiter/lander; upper stage failure Mariner 9 (US) Launch 05/30/1971 First orbiter of another planet: Mars orbit achieved November 14; global mapping continued until 10/27/1972 Mars 2 (USSR) Launch 05/19/1971 Successful Mars orbiter (achieved November 27); lander failed 225 226 appendix 2: mars missions Mars 3 (USSR) Launch 05/28/1971 Successful orbiter (December 2); lander touched down 12/02/1971 but ceased transmission after just 20 s. A tethered rover was also aboard Mars 4 (USSR) Launch 07/21/1973 Attempted orbit, retros failed; flyby on 02/10/1974 returned some data Mars 5 (USSR) Launch 07/25/1973 Achieved orbit 0212/1974; transmitter failure after 22 orbits Mars 6 (USSR) Launch 08/05/1973 Lander attempt; contact lost at landing; first in situ measurements of the Martian atmosphere Mars 7 (USSR) Launch 08/09/1973 Attempted lander; premature separation caused craft to miss planet; flyby on 03/09/1974 Viking 1 (US) Launch 08/20/1975 Orbiter global mapping/first successful Mars landing 07/20/1976; operated on surface for over 5 years Viking 2 (US) Launch 09/09/1975 Orbiter global mapping/successful Mars landing 09/03/1976; surface operations for 3½ years Phobos 1 (USSR) Launch 07/07/1988 Attempted orbiter and two Phobos landings; contact lost en route Phobos 2 (USSR) Launch 07/12/1988 Mars orbiter; attempted Phobos landings; orbiter failed just prior to final encounter with Phobos before landers could be deployed Mars Observer (US) Launch 09/25/1992 Mars Orbit attempt; contact lost prior to orbit insertion, probably due to a ruptured fuel line Mars Global Launch 11/07/1996 Mars orbiter; first use of aerobraking for Surveyor (US) planetary orbit; lander relay Mars 96 (USSR) Launch 11/16/1996 Attempted orbiter and multiple landers; launch failure Mars Pathfinder Launch 12/04/1996 Airbag equipped lander and rover; mission lasted (US) 3 month Nozomi (Japan) Launch 07/03/1998 Orbit attempt, abandoned due to fuel loss; Mars flyby 12/14/2003 Mars Climate Launch 12/11/1998 Orbit attempt; spacecraft burned up in Martian Orbiter (US) atmosphere due to a navigational error Mars Polar Lander/ Launch 01/03/1999 Attempted lander and penetrators; crash probably Deep Space 2 (US) due to premature engine cutoff from software problem Mars Odyssey (US) Launch 03/07/2001 Orbiter reached Mars 10/23/2001; lander relay appendix 2: mars missions 227 Mars Express (ESA) Launch 06/02/2003 Orbiter and attempted lander Beagle 2; orbit achieved 12/25; international lander relay; communications with Beagle lander lost before landing Spirit (MER-A) (US) Launch 06/10/2003 Mars rover, airbag landing; has explored over 7.7 km of Gusev Crater/Columbia Hills since landing 01/03/2004 Opportunity Launch 07/07/2003 Mars rover, airbag landing; has explored over (MER-B) (US) 26.6 km of the Meridiani plains since landing 01/25/2004 Mars Reconnaissance Launch 08/10/2005 Mars orbit 03/10/2006; high resolution imagery Orbiter (US) for future landing sites; search for evidence of present and past water Phoenix Launch 08/04/2007 Landed near north pole; mission from 05/25/2007–11/02/2007 Appendix 3: Outer Planet Missions Pioneer 10 (US) Launch 03/03/1972 First outer planets mission, first Jupiter flyby 12/04/1973 Pioneer 11 (US) Launch 04/05/1973 Jupiter flyby, first Saturn flyby 09/01/1979 Voyager 1 (US) Launch 09/05/1975 Jupiter/Saturn flyby Voyager 2 (US) Launch 08/20/1975 “Grand tour” flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune Galileo (US) Launch 10/18/1989 Achieved Jupiter orbit 12/7/1995, deployed atmospheric probe Ulysses (ESA) Launch 10/6/1990 1992 and 1994 Jupiter flybys en route to study Sun’s polar regions Cassini/Huygens Launch 10/15/1997 Saturn orbiter/Titan probe (US/ESA) New Horizons (US) Launch 1/19/2006 Jupiter flyby 2/28/2007 en route to Pluto encounter 7/14/2015 228 Chapter Notes and Sources Chapter One Legend has it that Spanish ships stranded while transporting horses to the West Indies would throw their horses overboard in an effort to save water rations. Another version has it that the Horse Latitudes refer to the “dead horse” ritual, in which sailors celebrate the point in their journey when they have worked off the debt of their advanced payment. Deck hands paraded a straw horse dummy, and then threw it overboard.