Image Gallery

Pictures and illustrations of probes, landers and equipment. They will be found in their systemic or archeological context by future explorers, weathered by extreme environmental conditions such as micrometeoroids impacts, solar radiation, dust, wide temperature ranges and, for those on Venus, high pressure, heat and corrosion.

Luna 1 (Solar orbit, 1959) – Museum copy of the first ever known human-made object to leave Earth’s orbit and to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as a Moon impactor it missed it out due to a longer than expected burn time of the upper stage. Note that it is probable that small pieces of schrapnel were the first artificial objects to reach heliocentric orbit in 1957 and 1958, see the High altitude tests page for more information – Credit: Alexander Mokletsov (date unknown)

Luna 1 (Solar orbit, 1959) – Copy of the pennants sphere housed inside the probe and that was designed to scatter on the surface upon impact. Note that the inscriptions in cyrillic script read ‘USSR January 1959’ which is consistent with this mission – Credit: Kansas Cosmosphere (date unknown)

Pioneer 4 (Solar orbit, 1959) – Three months after Luna 1, Pioneer 4 became the second artificial object to reach solar orbit. On this picture, technicians work on its sister ship Pioneer 3 that was launched earlier but didn’t make it to Earth’s orbit – Credit: NASA, JPL (1959)

Luna 2 (The Moon, 1959) – The probe was identical to Luna 1 though heavier as it carried additional instrumentation. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body. This engineering model visible in a Museum show the probe attached to the Blok-E upper stage, which is the second artificial object to make contact with the Moon half an hour or so late behind the probe – Credit: Alexander Mokletsov (date unknown)

Luna 2 (The Moon, 1959) – Copies of the 7.5 cm and 12 cm pennants spheres that were placed inside the probe and the other one inside the upper stage. Due to the high impact velocity they were probably vaporized with the vehicles. The inscriptions say ‘1959 – September – Union (of) Soviet Socialist Republics’, which is also consistent with this mission – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Luna 3 (The Moon, 1959) – Museum model of the first probe ever to swing around the Moon and shoot the far side. Unfortunately, orbital mechanics brought it back into the Earth’s atmosphere after several orbits. Note the open camera shutters at the top of the probe – Credit: Museum of Cosmonautics, Moscow (2014)

Pioneer 5 (Solar orbit, 1960) – The probe sits on its X-248 Altair upper stage in what looks like to be a preparation room for the flight. Note the very unusual shape of the probe – Credit: NASA (1960)

Venera 1 (Venus, 1961) – Museum mock-up of the first probe ever to reach Venus, however it failed enroute and flew past the planet without returning any data to the Earth. The dome at the top of the probe is no entry capsule but part of the pressurized compartment laden with equipment. Note that the 2-meter parabolic antenna is made of copper wire mesh – Credit: Museum of Cosmonautics, Moscow (2011)

Venera 1 (Venus, 1961) – The first Venera probes contained a round pennant inside a metallic globe of the earth which were enclosed within a protective shell of stainless steel pentagonal elements, similar to the Luna balls – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Ranger 3 to 5 (The Moon, 1962) – Block II series spacecraft were designed to hit directly the Moon while shooting pictures of the lunar surface for the last 10 minutes of flight and rough-land the seismometer wooden-capsule visible atop the probe. Ranger 4 did hit the Moon but was completely disabled enroute and couldn’t take picture nor deliver safely the seismometer to the surface, and both its sister-ships missed their target and are now still wandering intact in Solar orbit. On this picture, technicians lower Ranger 4 onto its payload adapter. Note that the silver casing right beneath the seismometer capsule is the retro-rocket designed to soften the ball’s impact – Credit: NASA, JPL (1962)

Ranger 3 to 5 (The Moon, 1962) – The seismometer was encased into a 63.5-cm wide balsa-wood impact-limiter sphere. The 42.6-kg capsule would separate from the bus 21.4 kilometers from the surface, ignite the retrorocket, separate from it also and then independently impact the Moon – Credit: NASA, JPL (1962)

Ranger 3 to 5 (The Moon, 1962) – The wooden sphere presented to the press by a JPL employee. The hollow core was filled with fluid allowing for the instrument package floating inside to righten itself up once the sphere set on the surface. The fluid would then drain, leaving the seismometer the right side up for operation – Credit: NASA, JPL (1962)

Mariner 2 (Venus, 1962) – Two engineers standing with the ill-fated Mariner 1. The second spacecraft was an exact copy and became the first successful probe to scan another planet, discovering that the Venusian surface was extremely hot and the atmosphere optically thick – Credit: NASA, JPL (1962)

Mars 1 (Mars, 1962) – Engineering model of the first probe ever sent to the Red Planet. It sent a large amount of interplanetary data back to the Earth before communications ceased while still on its way to Mars. It is now wandering in heliocentric orbit – Credit: unknown (unknown)

Ranger 6 to 9 (The Moon, 1964) – Succeeding to the previous series spacecraft, Block IIIs were identical except for the deleted seismometer capsule and for much more cameras, six instead of only one, of higher resolution. They are fixed inside the vertical airframe and peer out through the side opening. On this picture, engineers work on Ranger 6, the only one out of the four to fail returning pictures – Credit: NASA, JPL (1964)

Ranger 6 to 9 (The Moon, 1964) – The camera system was divided in two self-contained channels with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters to ensure redundancy. The three successful probes returned back to Earth more than 17,000 pictures – Credit: NASA, JPL (date unknown)

Zond 1 (Venus, 1964) – The spacecraft was meant to reach Venus, but communications had failed by that time. It carried a 90-centimetre spherical landing capsule designed to land in water. Had it been successful, it would have been renamed “Venera 2” as “Zond” is an undercover name for ill-fated interplanetary probes. The landing capsule is visible just over the stool at the bottom of the picture, note one of the straps that hold it tight to the probe during the flight – Credit: unknown (unknown)

Mariner 3 & 4 (Mars, 1964) – Technicians prepare Mariner 4 for a Weight Test. Both spacecraft were sisterships sent three weeks apart. Mariner 3 suffered a separation failure of the payload fairing which prevented the solar panels to deploy, depleting rapidly the batteries. However, Mariner 4 performed the first successful flyby of Mars, returning the first ever pictures of the surface of another planet – Credit: NASA, JPL (1964)

Zond 2 & 3 (Mars, 1964) – Zond 2 was another undercover name for an ill-fated probe bound to the Red Planet: like its predecessors, it lost communication before arrival. However, its companion spacecraft Zond 3 missed the launch window and was deployed towards the Moon and interplanetary space to test communication at distances equivalent to as far as Mars. Note that experimental ion engines were used for the first time on both spacecraft – Credit: unknown (unknown)

Luna 5 to 8 (The Moon, 1965) – Four lunar landing attempts were made in seven months, but all failed. Three of the probes crashed on the surface and Luna 6 missed the Moon. Controllers simulated a lunar landing sequence and deployed all the hardware in deep space: two cruise modules, a thermal shroud, two hemispherical airbags and the Luna 6 landing probe. The cruise modules are visible on both sides of the spacecraft on this picture and the landing probe is housed inside the stitched thermal shroud at the top. Note that Luna 4 was launched several months earlier and was stranded in a high Earth orbit – Credit: unknown (unknown)

Venera 2 (Venus, 1965) – The spacecraft made it to Venus and took the first ever pictures of the planet, however it failed to reestablish communications with the ground to transmit all the data recorded during the fly-by – Credit: unknown (unknown)

Venera 3 (Venus, 1965) – The spacecraft was launched onto a collision course with the planet. It comprised an entry probe designed to survive atmospheric loads and parachute down to the surface while the cruise bus would burn up. Unfortunately, contact was lost two weeks before entry and it is not known whether the entry probe has followed its landing sequence or not. Nonetheless, the spacecraft is the first ever to make contact with another planet. The spherical entry probe is visible beneath the spacecraft and is held with metallic straps – Credit: unknown (unknown)

Venera 3 (Venus, 1965) – As the entry probe was supposed to land on a swampy planet, it carried a buoyant sphere containing an Earth globe and a medallion – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Luna 9 (The Moon, 1966) – Post-landing artist’s view of the probe and its Cruise Bus in the background. As the Luna 9 and 13 Cruise Buses hard landed without any protection, they are probably more damaged than what the illustration suggests – Credit: Andrei Konstantinovich Sokolov? (date unknown)

Luna 9 (The Moon, 1966) – This is the very first picture ever shot from the surface of another celestial body. It is part of the probe’s first full azimut panorama and shows to the left one of the antennas with a dangling photometric device and to the right the latching mechanism of the petals. Note the tilted photometric device confirming that the probe is set on a slope to the right – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1966)

Luna 9 (The Moon, 1966) – Some sort of a strap is visible in the lower part of the probe’s third panorama. It looks like either a bent metal strap or a wire – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1966)

Luna 9 (The Moon, 1966) – Copies of the pennants carried aboard the probe. Luna 13 and the ill-fated Luna landers 4 to 8 probably bore similar medallions. Note that on these copies, ‘January 1966’ is written, which is the case for the launch date, but the probe landed a few days later in February – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Lunar Orbiter 1 to 5 (The Moon, 1966) – The probes were designed to select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon’s surface from orbit. Note the four Solar Panels whose cells are on the other side and the dual-lens of the camera on the flank of the pressurized compartiment – Credit: NASA (date unknown)

Luna 13 (The Moon, 1966) – Portion of the panorama showing two unidentified objects on the left and another one to the right. They probably come from the Cruise Bus that hard landed nearby: the rightmost object could be an helical antenna and the objects to the left could be either another part of the helical antenna or the probe’s airbag system (above) and a fairing (center). A small object is also barely visible in the upper center of the picture – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1966)

Luna 13 (The Moon, 1966) – The large object to the far left of the panorama is probably a cluster of boulders, however the size, global shape and smooth angles suggest that it might be the wreckage of the Cruise Bus or the flattened airbags – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1966)

Surveyor III (The Moon, 1967) – The probe pictured in its archeological context by the Apollo 12 astronauts. It is now incomplete as the scoop at the end of the extendable arm to the right and the TV camera above it (the large vertical tube) were removed by the crew and returned back to Earth for analysis – Credit: NASA (1969)

Surveyor V (The Moon, 1967) – The Alpha-Scattering Surface Analyzer (basically a spectrometer) left on the surface. It sled down the slope during the three-month mission. Note the lowering crane to the left of the pictures – Credit: NASA (1967)

Surveyor VII (The Moon, 1968) – The scoop claw was used to aid moving the Alpha-Scattering Surface Analyzer at different places during the mission. Note the pantograph arm of the scoop and the crane linked to the instrument with a cable – Credit: NASA (1968)

Apollo 8 (Solar orbit, 1968) – The S-IVB Third Stage pictured before its solar orbit injection as were also the next four. Those of Apollo 13 to 17 were sent into a collision course with the Moon to help calibrate the seismometers – Credit: NASA (1968)

Apollo 8 (Solar orbit, 1968) – Another shot at the S-IVB Third Stage showing the debris cloud (most of it made of ice particules and chunks of paint though) released after separation with the spacecraft by explosive bolts. The white circle Lunar Test Article replacing the Lunar Module for this mission is clearly visible in front of us – Credit: NASA (1968)

Apollo 10 (The Moon, 1969) – The last picture to date of the LM-5 ‘Snoopy’ Ascent Stage. Once the astronauts back and safe aboard the CM, the Ascent Stage engine was fired to depletion and sent to solar orbit. It is the only surviving LM Ascent Stage as all other ones were intentionally crashed on the Moon – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – The first Jettison Bag ever left on the surface and, in the lower center of the image, the Contingency Sample Collection Bag Ring partially hidden by the LM left landing gear strut shadow – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – Inadvertent shot of Neil Armstrong while he was discarding the LEC Bag under the LM. It landed to the left next to the Jettison Bag. The Contingency Sample Collection Bag Ring is also visible in the LM landing gear strut shadow on the right – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – Two SRC York Mesh spacers lie next to the Jettison Bag. They were used as padding material to protect tools inside the SRC boxes on the way to the Moon and were not needed anymore when the boxes were filled with rocks for the return trip – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – The abandoned Solar Wind Collector staff and, to the far left, the Lunar TV assembly. This is another inadvertent shot of Neil Armstrong as he advances the film prior to removing the magazine from the camera, hence the tilted view – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – Old Glory on the foreground and the Lunar TV Assembly in the center of the picture. As all Apollo flags, the fabric has been bleached white under decades-long of solar radiation, and this particular flag was blown down when the Ascent Stage Engine was ignited. The other ones are still standing and casting shadows – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – The EASEP instruments including the Passive Seismic Experiment Package (PSEP) and the Laser Ranging Retroreflector (LRRR). Note the deployment hardware lying between them: among pins, lanyards and brackets, the LRRR protective cover to the right of the thruster and the LRRR ‘Hockey Stick’ are the most noticeable – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 11 (The Moon, 1969) – LRO image of the landing site. The LM Descent Stage is in the center while both scientific instruments are just below it. Note Neil Armstrong’s footprints venturing to the large crater to the right – Credit: NASA (2009)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – Copy of the small ceramic wafer, also known as the ‘Moon Museum’, that was probably hidden in the LM Descent Module along with other personal effects from the Grumman technicians. From the top left corner down to the bottom right are artworks from then-famous artists Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Novros, Forrest Myers, Claes Oldenburg and John Chamberlain. Note Andy Warhol’s classy drawing – Credit: Frosty Myers (date unknown)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – The RTG Fuel Cask Dome Retrieval Tool (upright T-handle on the left) and the Fuel Transfert Tool lying next to it were used to retrieve the Fuel Capsule from its cask (upper right hand corner) and to place it inside the RTG. The aluminum rod at the bottom of the picture is the LM left landing gear Lunar Surface Contact Probe. ALSEP brackets and deployment lanyards are also visible on the surface – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – The first ALSEP instruments. Clockwise from the center are the Central Station, the Passive Seismic Experiment, the Lunar Surface Magnetometer (with its three arms up) and the Solar Wind Spectrometer. A dust cover is also visible to the far right of the picture – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – The S-Band antenna trunk door set aside on the LM right foot pad, it was used as a sunshield for the SRC rock boxes between the EVAs. Two contrast charts are visible in the background: one hanging from the MESA, the other one on the surface and covered with dust – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – Clockwise from the left, the S-Band Antenna, Old Glory, the Solar Wind Collector and the Lunar TV assembly. Both the SWC experiment and the burned-out TV camera were returned to Earth. Note the dangling US flag: the hinge that was supposed to hold the crossbar and flag out from the staff broke – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – A Contrast Chart dropped in the shadow of a crater while another one was left in the sunlit side. Contrast Charts were used to calibrate cameras in different lighting conditions – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – The Surveyor III probe stripped down of its scoop and TV camera: note the dangling wires and the severed aluminum tubes. This is the very first occurence of extraterrestrial archeology – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – The ALSEP site far in the background, and barely visible in the crater in the foreground, up from the deep footprints to the right, the first Contrast Chart dropped on the surface by Pete Conrad and so messed with dust that he couldn’t get a picture of it – Credit: NASA (1969)

Apollo 12 (The Moon, 1969) – LRO image of the landing site. The Surveyor III probe is at the lower right and the ALSEP site at the top of the picture. The EVA-2 traverse brought the astronauts around both large craters nicknamed ‘The Snowman’ – Credit: NASA (2009)

Apollo 13 (The Moon, 1970) – The crippled Service Module ended up into the Earth atmosphere, however the sector 4 panel along with various equipment and debris are probably down on the surface of the Moon: when oxygen tank #2 exploded, the Apollo stack was outbound to the Moon on a Lunar landing trajectory – Credit: NASA (1970)

Apollo 13 (The Moon, 1970) – Impact site of the S-IVB third stage. This picture of the LRO orbiter suggests that it probably hit flat. It is the only successful scientific experiment of the mission ( it helped calibrate Apollo 11’s and 12’s seismometers) along with the Moon surface pictures taken during the slingshot maneuver – Credit: NASA (2009)

Luna 17 (The Moon, 1970) – The landing platform viewed from the Lunokhod 1 Rover. Note the missing tracks in front of the ramps in the foreground: the Rover stepped down at the other side. Ramps were placed on both ends to prevent stranding the Rover – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1970)

Luna 17 (The Moon, 1970) – A ghostly TV video shot at the landing platform in its archeological context. The vertical mast is roughly 2.5 m high above the ground and secured the Rover in place during the trip to the Moon and all the way down to the surface – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1970)

Luna 17 (The Moon, 1970) – Engineering model of the first Lunokhod Rover. As the landing platforms didn’t have any camera, there is no picture of the Rovers strolling on the surface. They were 1.5 meter high, 2.3 meter long and about as large and weighted 756 kg on Earth. Solar cells were placed on the inner side of the lid which protected them from cold nights when closed. The stereoscopic cameras at the front helped the remote pilot on Earth navigate between rocks and craters – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1970)

Luna 17 (The Moon, 1970) – Copies of the pennants fixed on the Lunokhod 1 Rover – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – S-Band Antenna packing material including the round aluminum rib protector and the carry bar over the thermal blanket and the top foam pad to the right. The antenna legs tie down strap is barely visible on the blanket – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – A Jettison Bag, the LRRR Pallet and thermal shrouds stored under the LM. Note the silver landing radar at the top right-hand corner protected from the engine bell heat by the white square shield squeezed between them – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – The LEC Bag lying next to the LM left footpad. Used from Apollo 11 to 15, it carried the 20-meter long Lunar Equipment Conveyor, a tether that worked like a clothesline to transfert equipment to and from the Ascent Stage – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – Close-up picture of the RTG. It is basically a small nuclear generator that supplies power to the Central Station (the golden foiled box right behind it) and thence to the scientific instruments. The fins provide radiative cooling to the hot fuel cylinder. Note the dust that was already kicked on its base, the LRRR in the far background, the Mortar Package at the right edge and the packing material to the left – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – The ALSEP instruments. The red flags mark the position of the Mortar Package and a T/G experiment Geophone. Note the dust covers, brackets and bags scattered in front the Central Station and to the right of the picture – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – The LRRR clear-plastic cover with a red stripe (center right) lies next to the instrument. Three such Retroreflectors were left on the surface by the Apollo crews, this one is similar to Apollo 11 and Apollo 15’s is larger – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – At the bottom center of the image, an unused cup-shaped Documented Sample Bag, probably #22N, fell on the surface and was abandoned by the crew – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – Both PLSS and Old Glory in the foreground and the ALSEP instruments in the upper left hand corner. The second golf ball shot by Alan Shepard is barely visible halfway up to the ALSEP site – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – From left to right, the MET cart, the Lunar Close-up Camera with its cassette cover lying next to it, and a SRC York Mesh packing material. Note the Hasselblad Camera and the 16mm Camera (with the forgotten film magazine inside) on the MET. The Lunar TV cable and a probable pin or bracket are also visible on the surface – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – Barely visible in the center of the picture, in a crater, are the Contingency Sampler Handle thrown as a javelin by Ed Mitchell and, just in front of it, the first golf ball swung by Alan Shepard – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 14 (The Moon, 1971) – LRO image of the landing site. Note the EVA-2 traverse footprints running off frame to the right and leading up to Cone Crater. The brightest object to the left is probably the highly reflective flat circular blanket of the Passive Seismic Experiment – Credit: NASA (2009)

Mars 3 (Mars, 1971) – Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images reveal what could be the lost hardware of the first probe ever to soft-land on the Red Planet. The Heat Shield, Retro-rockets Pack, Main Chute and the Probe itself are the most noticeable objects despite having spent over 20 years in the dust – Credit: NASA (2013)

Mars 3 & 6 (Mars, 1971) – Artist’s illustration of the ill-fated probes. They would have both deployed a skidding Rover, nicknamed PrOP-M, that was tethered to the lander with a 15-meter long umbilical – Credit: unknown (date unknown)

Mars 3 & 6 (Mars, 1971) – Copies of the pennants abord the Mars landers. Mars 2’s pennants lie among the crashed probe debris and Mars 7’s are lost somewhere in solar orbit – Credit: unknown (2004)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – The Contingency Sampler Handle, a bracket and a probable ALSEP package D-Ring in the center of the picture and, to the right, the Contingency Sample Collection Bag Ring – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – The ALSEP instruments among dust covers, brackets, bags and other packing material. From left to right are the gray-colored RTG, the Central Station, the Passive Seismic Experiment, the Solar-Wind Spectrometer Experiment, the Magnetometer (with its arms up) and, to the far right, the SIDE/CCIG thermal detectors – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – A spring-loaded Boyd Bolt is visible to the right of the Solar-Wind Spectrometer Experiment. Used from Apollo 12 to 17, they held tight the folded ALSEP instruments during the voyage to the Moon. About 250 of them lie on the surface – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – Far in the background, a little white triangle-shaped object is visible slightly to the right and up of the center of the picture. Its shape and brightness are consistent with a discarded Documented Sample Bag, probably #189 or #191 – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – On the next picture of the panorama, the same discarded Document Sample Bag is visible to the far left, suggesting that it is not a smudge on the camera lens. However, the white dot to the right is a stain on the film: it doesn’t appear on the next frame of the panorama – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – Another Documented Sample Bag is visible on the surface next to the LMP’s feet on the upper right hand corner. It is probably another discarded bag, #165 – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – The hammer and the Falcon feather used for the Galileo experiment. They both hit the ground at the same time as expected and are now lying underneath the LM MESA along with thermal blankets and straps. Note the LRV High Gain Antenna packing material in the upper left hand corner of the picture. The burred spot in the middle of the picture is due to lunar dust that abraded the lens – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – Personal and symbolic items left on the surface by the LMP: medallions, silver pieces, a small sliver of Central Oregon lava and the picture of a man. The two clear plastic parts probably encased one of the items and split open when hitting the ground. These small and inconspicuous objects are typical of what is probably often hidden aboard deep space probes by mission staff and technicians – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – The Lunar Roving Vehicle 1 parked at its permanent location and behind it the Fallen Astronauts Memorial. Note the missing front-left wheel fender extension on the Rover: it was lost during the first EVA. The red Bible book is also visible on the console in front of the seats and the Rake behind them – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – Close-up picture of the 18.2-cm large Fallen Astronauts Plaque and the 8.5-cm long Figurine at the Memorial site behind the Rover. Both were made of aluminum, the Plaque bears the names of the six Soviet Cosmonauts and the eight US Astronauts known to have died in service at the time, but the list is probably now wiped off by solar radiation – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – LRV TV frame of the abandoned Lunar Module Falcon Descent Stage. Note that the flag to the right wasn’t disturbed by the Ascent Stage launch blast and is still standing. The white dots belong to some discarded packing material – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – The 78-cm long Particles and Fields Subsatellite (PFS-1) was released in Lunar orbit just before the crew returned to Earth. Apollo 16 deployed a similar microsatellite, PFS-2 and both have impacted the Moon after 18 and 3 months, respectively, of activity – Credit: NASA (1971)

Apollo 15 (The Moon, 1971) – LRO image of the landing site. The ALSEP site is to the upper left and the LRV is parked in the back spot to the right, at the edge of the bright area. Note the EVA-1 traverse LRV tracks going down off frame – Credit: NASA (2009)

Pioneer 10 (Solar escape, 1972) – The gold-anodized aluminum plaque, best known as the ‘Pioneer plaque’, is fixed to the probe’s antenna support struts. The engraved side is turned inwards to prevent it from erosion by interstellar dust. A similar plaque is attached to the probe’s sister-ship, Pioneer 11 – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – The first scientific experiment deployed on the surface by the crew was the Far UV Astronomy Camera/Spectrograph, a 75mm Schmidt telescope that was placed in the shadow of the LM to keep it cool and to shield it from the Sun glare. It is not working anymore as it was manually-operated and it was the first and only space telescope on the Moon until Chang’e 3 in 2013. Note the deployed tripod next to the LM ladder strut: it was supposed to hold the TV Camera while the astronauts off-loaded the LRV but it was never used and the TV Camera was directly fixed to the Rover. Note the LRV deployment lanyards behind the tripod – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – The ALSEP instruments. From left to right, the gray-colored RTG, the Central Station and a Thumper/Geophone cable red anchor. The Passive Seismic Experiment is in the foreground with its 75-cm large and highly reflective shroud clearly visible from orbit when the Sun lights it – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – Another view of the ALSEP site with the Mortar Package in the foreground and the Magnetometer above it in the background. The Central Station and the RTG are also visible in the upper left hand corner – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – One of the last pictures of the Lunar Roving Vehicle 2 parked forever at the VIP site. The grey Hand Tool Carrier was left opened and emptied except for the Tongs. Note the stripped Self Recording Penetrometer above the white Geology Pallet and the small Vise just behind it. Barely visible in the background at the tip of the open HTC is the abandoned Lunar Portable Magnetometer connected with a cable to its electronics box mounted on the Rover – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – Astronaut Charles Duke’s family portrait. The photograph has since faded due to the high surface temperature and to the intense radiation – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – Known commemorative items left on the surface by the LMP: a silver Medallion from the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force in the center of the picture, and in the upper left-hand corner a piece of torn Beta-Cloth on which is handwritten 64-C, the third class of 1964 at the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – LRV TV frame of the abandoned Lunar Module Orion Descent Stage. Loose equipment was left underneath the lander near the MESA area and the rod sticking out of the right footpad is one of the Lunar Surface Contact Probes – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 16 (The Moon, 1972) – LRO image of the landing site. Note how close the LM landed to a large crater. The ALSEP site is at the lower left and the LRV is parked in the black spot to the right. The bright spot in the ALSEP area is probably the highly reflective blanket of the Passive Seismic Experiment – Credit: NASA (2009)

Venera 8 (Venus, 1972) – Annotated post-landing artist’s view of the early Venera probe. The text reads from right to left: Parachute (after ejection) / Remote Antenna (before ejection) / Main Antenna / Light Sensors / Atmospheric Pressure and Temperature Sensors / Remote Antenna (after ejection). Note that the Heatshields of the first generation Venera landers were part of the pressure hull and weren’t discarded – Credit: Unknown (date unknown)

Venera 8 (Venus, 1972) – Copies of pennants fixed on the Venera 5 to 8 probes – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – The ALSEP site. Clockwise from the foreground are the LEAM experiment, the central pile of packing material and above it the Lunar Surface Gravimeter, the golden Central Station and the RTG. The long stick in the center of the picture is one of the two Universal Handling Tool – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – Another view of the ALSEP central pile of packing material. The RTG is at left and the LEAM Experiment above it in the background – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – An empty Sample Bag, probably #473, left on the surface next to the ‘Split Boulder’. However its shape is also consistent with a 20-Sample Bag Dispenser Assembly, so both are probably still fixed together since this particular Sample Bag was the last of its series – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon) – Another 20-Sample Bag Dispenser Assembly left empty inside Van Serg Crater – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – The flight of the hammer: thrown away by the LMP it landed halfway between the LM and the ALSEP site to the left – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – The blue box in the lower left-hand corner is the discarded Traverse Gravimeter Experiment. The black spots reflect that it hit the surface several times when it was thrown away by the CDR – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – The Lunar Roving Vehicle 3 shot at its final parking spot at the VIP site. Note the missing wheel fenders extensions that were brought back for analysis, the SEP experiment vertical antenna and the the LSPE Explosive Charge #3 (square box) on the pallet – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – The CDR placed the Explosive Charge #3 on the surface on its way back to the LM. It was detonated along with the seven other charges days after the crew departure. Note the spool next to it which is at the end of one of the SEP Transmitter Antennas – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – Frame of the 16mm film shot at liftoff and showing the landing site. The Descent Stage is at the lower left, the ALSEP is at the top center and the crew tracks are visible in between – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – LRV TV frame of the abandoned Lunar Module Challenger Descent Stage. The white object laid against the LM footpad to the right is the Quad III Payload Pallet – Credit: NASA (1972)

Apollo 17 (The Moon, 1972) – LRO image of the landing site. The ALSEP site is at left and the LRV is barely visible to the lower right in a small black spot. The LRV tracks and crew footprints drawing a cross pattern to the right were done while installing the SEP 35-meter long antenna. Note the consistent tracks layout leading to the ALSEP site with the 16mm film shot at liftoff – Credit: NASA (2009)

Luna 21 (The Moon, 1973) – The Lunokhod II Rover pictured before stacking on the launch vehicle. Though identical to the first Lunokhod, it differed with a third camera placed at man-height and all had large rectangular hoods. The laser Retroreflector is visible between the yellow conical antenna and the upper camera. Note the Solar Cells on the inner side of the open lid and the stool on which the Rover is placed: the wheels and the suspension system aren’t designed to bear its Earth weight which is six times greater than that of the Moon – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1973)

Luna 21 (The Moon, 1973) – The landing platform viewed from the Lunokhod 2 Rover. The black dots on the side of the lander are fuel and electrical connectors to the ejectable propellant tanks that were discarded during the approach phase – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1973)

Luna 21 (The Moon, 1973) – Another shot at the landing platform. Note how close the spacecraft landed to the slope of a large crater – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1973)

Luna 21 (The Moon, 1973) – Copies of the pennants fixed on the Lunokhod 2 Rover – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Luna 23 (The Moon, 1974) – This LRO picture shows the complete probe lying on its side: it tipped over at landing. ‘D’ is the Descent Stage while ‘A’ is the stranded Ascent Stage – Credit: NASA (2012)

Venera 9 (Venus, 1975) – First-ever image of the surface of the planet. The object to the right is the soil Gamma-Ray Spectrometer – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1975), enhanced by Ted Stryk (date unknown)

Venera 10 (Venus, 1975) – The long white object at the bottom center of the image is the camera lens cover. These early lens caps were plagued by a design flaw that prevented most of them from being ejected after touchdown: both Venera 9 and 10 were half-blind (their second camera’s lens cap didn’t pop-up) while neither Venera 11 and 12 could see anything – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1975), enhanced by Ted Stryk (date unknown)

Venera 10 (Venus, 1975) – Copies of the pennants carried aboard the second generation Venera landers. Note that one of them was fastened to the landing ring, directly above one of the cameras – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (date 2004)

Viking 1 (Mars, 1976) – One of the first panoramic views of the surface of the planet. Visible equipment to the left are the Meteorology Boom Assembly, the Magnet Cleaning Brush fixed to the leg #2 strut and the Surface Sampler Boom gearbox. To the right are the small S-Band low-gain antenna fixed to the leg #3 strut, the RTG power source cover, the Seismometer & Radar Altimeter boxes and the large S-Band high-gain antenna. The grid to the far right will help evaluate the dust surface contamination – Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Viking 1 (Mars, 1976) – Trenches dug by the lander’s Surface Sampler Device. The scoop is visible at the bottom center of the picture while the raised hinged arm to the left is the Meteorology Boom Assembly. The cylinder to the left is the leg #2 shock absorber next to electronics boxes – Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Viking 2 (Mars, 1976) – One of the first pictures of the probe taken by Camera #1. Note the color grids, American flags and bicentennial symbols on the spacecraft which were used for color balance. One RTG cover is in the foreground with the flag and the other one is to the far left. The S-band high-gain antenna is at the top center next to the Seismometer hood – Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Viking 2 (Mars, 1976) – The same area of the spacecraft’s deck shot by the second camera. The red and white tubes are the RTG coolant lines and the propulsion fill & Nitrogen Make Up lines. Note the deposit evaluation grids on the floor and dust already invading the lander– Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Viking 2 (Mars, 1976) – The Collector Head (scoop) Protective Shroud is lying next to the first trenches dug by the probe’s robotic arm. Note the probe’s leg #3 footpad in the foreground – Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Viking 2 (Mars, 1976) – A panoramic scene taken by Camera #1. The picture sweeps around 280 degrees in azimuth, starting from North (above the Surface Sampler Arm housing to the far left) through East at the center left (where the Scoop Protective Shroud lies), past SouthEast above the RTG cover, South at the large S-Band antenna and ends West at the American flag fixed on the second RTG cover. Note the frost on the surface of the planet – Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Viking 2 (Mars, 1976) – Another panoramic scene, however made with Camera #2. It spans a larger area of 330 degrees in azimuth, starting from NorthEast to the left through East between the American flag and the Seismometer box, past South at the S-Band antenna strut, West above the hidden RTG hood, NorthWest at the Meteorology boom and ends North at the Surface Sampler Boom gearbox – Credit: NASA, JPL (1976)

Voyager 1 & 2 (Solar escape, 1977) – The ‘Voyager Golden Records’ are gold-plated copper, 30 cm diameter phonograph disks housed inside engraved, uranium-238-electroplated aluminum covers and fixed to the side of each probe. They are similar to the state-of-the-art 33-rpm LP vinyl record of their time, enhancing the probes’ time capsule status rather than space junk – Credit: NASA, JPL (1977)

Pioneer 13 (Venus, 1978) – Pre-flight picture of the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe before it was stacked on the Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle. The three small entry probes (nicknamed ‘North’, ‘Night’ and ‘Day’) encircle the ‘Large’ entry probe. Contact was lost when they all impacted the surface, however the ‘Day’ probe survived for 67 more minutes. The Cruise Bus was incinerated into the thick atmosphere – Credit: NASA (1978)

Venera 13 (Venus, 1981) – Both newly-designed cameras lens caps are visible on the surface in front of the landing ring. The arm to the left of the bottom picture holds the soil penetrometer, drill and surface sampler. And next to it, the pentagonal medallion fixed to the landing ring is one of the Soviet pennants carried aboard the probe. Note the color calibration charts to the right of both pictures – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1982), enhanced by Ted Stryk (date unknown)

Venera 13 (Venus, 1981) – Post-landing artist’s view of the second-generation Venera lander. Note the accuracy of the drawing: the lens cap is exactly at the same position as on the picture taken by the probe – Credit: Mattias Malmer (2020)

Venera 14 (Venus, 1981) – One of the camera lens cap landed right under the soil penetrometer which consequently returned the cap’s compressibility data instead that of the surface (bottom picture). The white object to the right of the arm is probably a piece of the broken lens cap, and a pentagonal medallion is visible on the landing ring – Credit: NPO Lavochkin, Roscosmos (1982), enhanced by Ted Stryk (date unknown)

Vega 1 & 2 (Venus, 1984) – Engineering model of the 3.4-meter diameter helium-filled ballon and the 1.3-meter long scientific instruments-laden gondola. They were both connected with a 13-meter long tether and the whole stack weighted 21.5 kg on Earth – Credit: Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian Institution (date unknown)

Vega 1 & 2 (Venus, 1984) – Copies of the pennants carried aboard the probes – Credit: Don P. Mitchell & Alex Panchenko (2004)

Magellan (Venus, 1989) – The probe was the first interplanetary mission to be launched by the Space Shuttle and also the first one to use the IUS (Inertial Upper Stage), a two-stage solid-fueled booster. A spring-loaded mechanism ejected the spacecraft to a safe distance from the Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-30 mission before ignition. Both stages of the booster were discarded in Solar orbit while the Star-48 Venus orbital insertion motor was shaved off after depletion and burned up into the thick Venusian atmosphere – Credit: NASA, JPL (1989)

Galileo (Jupiter, 1989) – Five months after commissioning the Magellan Venus Orbiter, the very same Space Shuttle Atlantis launched the second IUS-equipped interplanetary probe during the STS-34 mission, hence the similar looking picture with STS-30. Both stages were also discarded in Solar orbit along with dust covers – Credit: NASA, JPL (1989)

Galileo (Jupiter, 1989) – Engineering model of the Atmospheric Entry Probe. The pressure hull housed seven scientific instruments among which pressure, light, wind and gas sensors. The cone visible at the bottom of the picture is the Heatshield, seen from inside. The Probe, Heatshield, Backshell and both Parachutes ended up crushed and melted deep inside Jupiter’s atmosphere – Credit: NASA, JPL (date unknown)

Ulysses (Solar orbit, 1990) – The Solar Probe was the third and last IUS-equipped interplanetary probe launched by the Space Shuttle. On this picture the spacecraft has backed off to a safe distance from the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41 mission before ignition. Both IUS stages, the PAM-S (Payload Assist Module-Special) booster and its pair of yo-yo despin masses, the PAM-S cradle and dust covers were all discarded in Solar orbit. Trajectory calculations revealed that, during one of its next encounters with Jupiter, a close fly-by with one the Jovian moons will probably slingshot the spacecraft out of the Solar system – Credit: NASA, ESA (1990)

Clementine (The Moon, 1994) – The probe undergoing a final inspection and tests in an Anechoic Chamber before transport to the launch complex. Data obtained from the probe indicated that there is enough water in polar craters of the Moon to support a human colony and a rocket fueling station. After leaving the Moon for an encounter with asteroid 1620 Geographos, it suffered a thruster malfunction that stranded it in heliocentric orbit – Credit: NASA, BMDO (1994)

Near-Shoemaker (433 Eros, 1996) – The spacecraft stacked inside the Delta II launch vehicle, atop a PAM-D upper stage. The probe was not initially designed to soft-land on the asteroid, but favorable navigation conditions allowed to set it gently on the surface where it continued to transmit data for two weeks – Credit: NASA, APL (1996)

Mars Global Surveyor (Mars, 1996) – The spacecraft is fixed to a PAM-D upper stage before integration to the launch vehicle. For almost ten years, the orbiter performed a global mapping mission, provided atmospheric monitoring for sister orbiters during aerobraking, helped identifying potential landing sites and relayed surface communications to the Earth. It is still in orbit and was replaced with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – Credit: NASA, JPL (1996)

Cassini (Saturn, 1997) – The Huygens Entry and Descent Module undergoing stacking onto the Heatshield. Note the three suspension lines that run from the silver foiled parachute container to the connection rings at the edge of the deck. Both black spikes are telemetry antennas – Credit: ESA, NASA (1997)

Cassini (Saturn, 1997) – The Cassini-Huygens probe is lowered into the payload adapter that will be fixed on the launch vehicle, atop the Centaur upper stage. Note the Huygens Entry Assembly Module fixed to the side of the spacecraft – Credit: ESA, NASA (1997)

Mars Pathfinder (Mars, 1997) – TV frame of the Carl Sagan Memorial Station from the short height (28 cm) of Sojourner. Note the deflated airbags partially retracted under the spacecraft and the ramp from which the Rover stepped down – Credit: NASA, JPL (1997)

Mars Pathfinder (Mars, 1997) – Computer-enhanced self-portrait of the Carl Sagan Memorial Station made with the IMP imager on top of a mast. Note the ramps on each side of the platform to avoid stranding the Rover – Credit: NASA, JPL (1997)

Mars Pathfinder (Mars, 1997) – The Sojourner Rover travels among rocks, carefully monitored by the lander. On this picture, Sojourner is set backwards against a big rock (nicknamed ‘Yogi’) to analyse it with a spectrometer fixed at its rear end. Note the ‘Twin Peaks’ far in the background to the upper left – Credit: NASA, JPL (1997)

Mars Climate Orbiter (Mars, 1998) – The spacecraft sits on a spin table before integration on the launch vehicle. The orbiter arrived at Mars on a trajectory 170 km lower than intended, sending it deeply into the atmosphere were it was destroyed. The root cause of the failure is a measurement mismatch between metric units used by NASA and US Customary Units from spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin: combined miscalculations during all four Trajectory Correction Maneuvers were never noticed and ultimately led to the destruction of the probe – Credit: NASA, JPL (1999)

Mars Polar Lander (Mars, 1999) – NASA technicians prepare the lander for launch. The three hanging struts are not the landing gear but support brackets that will be removed after final assembly. The landing gear is already retracted: one of the gray dish footpads is visible next to the golden-foiled propellant tank to the right and a second one to the far left of the lander. Note how small the lander is – Credit: NASA, JPL (1998)

Mars Polar Lander (Mars, 1999) – The complete spacecraft is being stacked on the gray-colored Star-48 kick stage atop a Delta II rocket. The lander is nestled inside the inverted white cone and fixed on the golden foiled cruise stage. Note the solar panels protected by white aluminum sheets and the one of the two Deep Space 2 microprobes wrapped in a red blanket. The other one is on the opposite side – Credit: NASA, JPL (1998)

Mars Polar Lander (Mars, 1999) – Engineering models of the Deep Space 2 impact probes. The two basketball-sized shells were released from the Mars Polar Lander before entry interface and hit directly the surface without any EDL hardware except for the heatshield whose ablative material is clearly visible to the left. On impact, each shell was designed to shatter and separate into two parts connected with a cable: the lower one was meant to penetrate as far as half a meter into the soil and contained the scientific instrument while the upper part was to remain on the surface in order to transmit data through its antenna to the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in orbit. Unfortunately both probes, nicknamed ‘Scott’ and ‘Amundsen’ in honor of the first explorers to reach the Earth’s South Pole, were declared lost when communication was never established after impact. Indeed, the whole mission was doomed as the fate of Mars Polar Lander is also unknown and the crash site is yet to be discovered – Credit: NASA, JPL (1998)

Contour (Solar orbit, 2002) – The spacecraft’s design included a permanently and deeply embedded Star-27 Apogee Kick Stage into the structure. This particular architecture is rare as kick stages are often fixed outside and discarded after depletion to avoid issues such as an explosion of the fuel tank. On this picture, technicians lower the probe toward the kick stage during assembly – Credit: NASA, APL (2002)

Contour (Solar orbit, 2002) – The deep space probe broke apart during its burn to heliocentric orbit. The green-circled streaks visible on this telescope image taken a day after the mishap show the probe, two large debris and a probable third. The likely cause of this event was structural failure due to plume heating during the Star-27 burn – Credit: Spacewatch, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona (2002)

Beagle 2 (Mars, 2003) – Released by the Mars Express Orbiter, the Beagle 2 Lander heads for a landing on Mars – Credit: ESA (2003)

Beagle 2 (Mars, 2003) – A signal was supposed to be sent to Mars Express after landing but was never received. The lander was declared lost and its fate unvieled more than a decade later when the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered that it had survived landing and that it was partially deployed. Note the candidate Parachute and Backshell impact sites – Credit: NASA, JPL (2015)

Beagle 2 (Mars, 2003) – Computer-enhanced closeup of the lander on the surface. The image suggests that the lander was halfway into his unfolding process when some of its solar panels failed to fully open, preventing deployment of its radio antenna and blocking communication – Credit: NASA, JPL (2015)

Beagle 2 (Mars, 2003) – Replica of the lander fully deployed and another model to the right depicting its probable actual state on the surface. As the probe’s golden square antenna is beneath the last two panels, it would have been unable to transmit or receive data. Possible failure scenarios include mechanical damage during landing, fouling of the deployment mechanism and obstruction of the panels by an airbag – Credit: Seacombe Spaceport Museum, London Science Museum (date unknown)

Spirit (Mars, 2003) – Close picture of the landing platform. It was named ‘Columbia Memorial Station’ in honor of the STS-107 crew who died aboard the Columbia Space Shuttle the previous year. Note the deflated airbags folded underneath the abandoned lander and the flexible ramp – Credit: NASA, JPL (2004)

Spirit (Mars, 2003) – Computer-generated view of the current status of the Rover. It became embedded in soft sand and the team couldn’t remediate the situation before the batteries ran out of power due to poor sunshine conditions. Note the tracks in front of the Rover: it was running backwards since it had lost its right-front wheel drive and has been dragging the jammed wheel for more than three years – Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Astro0 (2009)

Spirit (Mars, 2003) – One of the last pictures from the Rover pointing out the left-front wheel stuck in the ‘Troy’ sand trap. Note the inoperative right-front-wheel to the right. The scene remains the same as of today – Credit: NASA, JPL (2010)

Opportunity (Mars, 2003) – The ‘Challenger Memorial Station’ landing platform set in a crater now named Eagle Crater. The lander was named in honor of the STS-51-L Space Shuttle Challenger crew who was lost on January 28th, 1986 – Credit: NASA, JPL (2004)

Opportunity (Mars, 2003) – The Challenger Memorial Station nestled in Eagle Crater. This MRO picture shot from orbit highlights the hole-in-one done by the probe at landing. Note that the tracks of the Rover are already gone two years after arrival – Credit: NASA, JPL (2006)

Opportunity (Mars, 2003) – The Rover looks out to the plains where its Backshell (left) and Parachute (right) lie – Credit: NASA, JPL (2004)

Opportunity (Mars, 2003) – The Heat Shield impact site: from right to left, the initial impact crater, parts of the Flank Heat Shield and the Main Heat Shield – Credit: NASA, JPL (2004)

Opportunity (Mars, 2003) – The Main Heat Shield, torn inside out, among springs and other items. This picture shows how difficult it is to list every single piece of loose hardware, especially after a breakup – Credit: NASA, JPL (2004)

Opportunity (Mars, 2003) – Computer-enhanced self-portrait of the filthy Rover taken with the mast-mounted PanCam camera. It gives a good indication on how hardware looks like after several months on Mars, however the deposits are occasionally blown off by dust devils – Credit: NASA, JPL (2004)

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (Mars, 2005) – The solar panels are being installed on the spacecraft. They will help the orbital insertion using the aerobraking technique: this controlled use of atmospheric friction changes the initial, very elongated orbit into a rounder shape optimal for science operations. It uses less fuel than standard Retro-rocket braking, but takes longer to achieve the desired orbit – Credit: NASA, JPL (2005)

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (Mars, 2005) – The spacecraft main goals are to provide support for missions to Mars and to search for the existence of water thanks to the HiRISE camera designed to produce detailed pictures of the surface as small as a meter across – Credit: NASA, JPL (2005)

Hayabusa (Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2003) – The probe is ready to be stacked on the launch vehicle. The dome in the center of the spacecraft is the Sample Return Capsule that will bring back grains of dust from the asteroid – Credit: JAXA (2005)

Hayabusa (Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2003) – The Minerva hopping Lander is 12 cm in diameter and 10 cm high. Solar cells attached to each side secure power in any attitude, and pins protrude from the probe to protect them. The lander can hop on the weak gravity surface thanks to a spinning wheel inside its body – Credit: JAXA (2005)

Hayabusa (Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2003) – The first Target Marker released during the landing approach rehearsal (top left-hand corner). The perspective leads to believe that it is set on the surface, however the 10-cm white ball is some 500 meters in front of the 535-meter long asteroid – Credit: JAXA (2005)

Hayabusa (Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2003) – The only picture transmitted to Earth by the Minerva Lander shows one of the probe’s solar panel. The blank area at the bottom was intentionally not sent by the autonomous computer of the lander for increased efficiency: partial areas with no scene, in this case a dark black sky, are automatically trashed before transmission – Credit: JAXA (2005)

Hayabusa (Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2003) – Five minutes after Minerva’s deployment, Hayabusa caught both the lander and the OME-C protective cover on their way to the asteroid. They didn’t made it and their fate is unknown: they are either wandering in Solar orbit or they ended up on the surface after several months orbiting Itokawa. They are barely visible at the bottom of the picture: Minerva is the little dot to the bottom right-hand corner while the hood is to the left. Note Hayabusa’s shadow casting on the surface of the asteroid – Credit: JAXA (2005)

Hayabusa (Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2003) – The little white dot to the left of the probe’s shadow is the second Market Marker released on the surface. Target Markers helped the probe evaluate distances on a featureless surface – Credit: JAXA (2005)

New Horizons (Solar escape, 2006) – Among various commemorative items aboard the probe, a small container holding some of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh’s ashes seems to be glued on the airframe. If it’s the case, the fixture has probably failed, freeding the little box – Credit: NASA, JHU/APL (2006)

New Horizons (Solar escape, 2006) – Preflight picture of the Florida State Quarter dispatched with the probe. The second State Quarter, from Maryland, is probably fixed on the other side of the ‘L’-shaped steel plate – Credit: NASA, JHU/APL (2006)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – NASA illustration of the yo-yo de-spin cables and masses being released in solar orbit once they’ve reduced the spin rate of the probe. The dark gray-colored spent injection booster will be discarded right after that – Credit: NASA, JPL (2007)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – An almost full circle panorama taken with the SSI (Surface Stereo Imager) Camera on top of a mast shows from left to right a Footpad, the western Solar Panel, a small U.S. flag, the LIDAR white box, the 2.3 meter high Meteorological Experiment mast with a weathercock at its top, the eastern Solar Panel, the Soil Analysis Experiment black-colored box and the Gas Analysis silver box. The Robotic Arm is not on the scene, however its attachment point to the lander can be seen at the bottom right hand corner. The rail to the right held the Robotic Arm in the stowed position for the flight, and the UHF Antenna is visible between the LIDAR box and the Meteorology mast. The Mars arctic plain shows patterning of ground similar to those in permafrost areas on Earth: ice is visible in the trench at the far right – Credit: NASA, JPL (2008)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – The Meteorological Experiment LIDAR consists of a vertical-pointing Telescope (black tube) used together with a Passive Laser (small tube in the foreground). A lid opens for operation and protects the experiment from dust when closed – Credit: NASA, JPL (2008)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – The probe’s Robotic Arm is not a simple scoop tool, it also has a powered Rasp designed to sample icy layers expected to be about as hard as concrete, a TECP (Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe) and a Camera. The Rasp is the small silver plate protruding from above the scoop, the TECP probe is the bottom silver box pointing toward the ground and the Camera is the big golden box in front of them – Credit: NASA, JPL (2008)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – Close-up view of the Planetary Society’s ‘Vision of Mars’ DVD-ROM fixed on the deck of the lander, between the Soil and Gas Analysis boxes and next to a second small U.S. flag – Credit: NASA, JPL (2008)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – Picture taken underneath the lander with the Robotic Arm’s Camera towards the South Footpad and showing a patch of bright surface, suggesting that water ice was uncovered by thruster exhaust at landing. Note also the frozen material that was probably spilled on the North-Eastern Footpad strut to the left during landing. The box on the lower center of the picture is the TECP fixed to the Robotic Arm, and the strut to the right is also part of North-Eastern Footpad – Credit: NASA, JPL (2008)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – (Click on the image) These two pictures taken nearly a decade apart from the MRO orbiter show how landing evidence changes over time as Martian dust covers hardware and disturbed soil. The lander is at the top of the image while the Heatshield is to the center right and the Backshell/Parachute stack at the bottom. Note that the Parachute has also shifted to the East under wind gusts but remains close to the Backshell to which it’s still attached – Credit: NASA, JPL (2017)

Phoenix (Mars, 2007) – A Closer look at the triangular-shaped Lander reveals that the Solar Panels do not cast shadows anymore. Both have probably collapsed under the load of carbon dioxide frost for which they weren’t designed – Credit: NASA, JPL (2017)

LRO (The Moon, 2009) – The LCROSS spacecraft during processing. It was launched together with LRO as part of a shared program and was designed to collect data from the debris plume resulting from the spent Centaur upper stage crash that occurred right in front of him six minutes before its own impact. The main goal was to detect water evidence arising from the south pole target crater – Credit: NASA (2009)

LRO (The Moon, 2009) – The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter being prepared for flight. The probe has mapped the surface at 100-meter resolution and more than 98% coverage including 0.5-meter resolution images of Apollo landing sites – Credit: NASA (2009)

LRO (The Moon, 2009) – The LROC Camera is a complex system consisting of two Narrow Angle Cameras (above), a Wide Angle Camera (bottom) and a Sequence Compressor System that supports data acquisition. Note the hammer and the Swiss-knife that give the scale – Credit: NASA (2009)

LRO (The Moon, 2009) – The complete spacecraft ready to be stacked on the launch vehicle. The LCROSS is installed between the LRO above it and the Centaur upper stage adapter. The two Narrow Angle Cameras lenses are visible halfway up of the silver LRO – Credit: NASA (2009)

LRO (The Moon, 2009) – The Centaur upper stage as seen from the LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft. It is on its way to hit the surface of the Moon, followed by LCROSS – Credit: NASA (2009)

Akatsuki (Venus, 2010) – The Ikaros solar sail pictured by the small DCAM2 wireless camera released in deep space for that purpose – Credit: JAXA (2010)

Akatsuki (Venus, 2010) – One of the two wireless DCAM cameras released in deep space to shoot Ikaros’ solar sail deployment. The white wire antenna is barely visible at the top right and the lens is the black opening to the right – Credit: JAXA (2010)

Juno (Jupiter orbit, 2011) – The three Lego figurines representing the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno and Galileo Galilei installed inside the probe prior to launch. Each of them are the same size as typical Lego toys, but are cast in aluminum rather than plastic which does not bear the deep space environmental conditions – Credit: NASA, JPL (2011)

Juno (Jupiter orbit, 2011) – The 7.1 by 5.1 cm aluminum plaque dedicated to astronomer Galileo Galilei also fixed inside the spacecraft – Credit: NASA, JPL (2011)

Fobos-Grunt (Phobos, 2011) – The probe was stranded in Low Earth Orbit because of a design flaw. The telescope picture to the left was taken six weeks before the inert probe re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere – Credit: Ralf Vandebergh (2011)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – The Rover inside a high vacuum environmental testing chamber at JPL before launch. The big white box at the rear of the vehicle is the RTG nuclear fuel container. Note the engineer who gives the scale – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – The 16-meter wide parachute is not large enough to soft-land the 900-kg Rover: a rocket-powered Sky Crane is also required to secure the landing – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – Annotated landing site of the Rover. Unlike Moon probes, the disturbed soil traces that indicate the position of the hardware have since healed up under wind shears – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – Impact field of the two 75-kg tungsten Cruise Mass Balances and part of the Cruise Stage which broke apart during atmospheric entry. The 3- to 5-meter wide large craters were probably made by the CMBs while the cluster of smaller ones belong to the shredded Cruise Stage – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – One of the first computer-enhanced self-portrait of the Rover on the surface. Note its cleanliness that didn’t last very long – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – A small piece of debris lies on the surface, probably shattered from the EDL hardware, either the Back Shell or the Skycrane – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – Among several commemorative items fixed to the probe, a 1909 Lincoln Penny is embedded just below the primary color calibration targets on the robotic arm shoulder – Credit: NASA, JPL (2012)

Curiosity (Mars, 2012) – After over ten years driving along on the surface of the planet, the Rover’s aluminum wheels show some serious damage, however not to the point of endangering the mission. The broken aluminum pieces are spread on the surface along the track of the Rover. Note that the chevrons are still intact. Perseverance’s wheels were hardened – Credit: NASA, JPL (2022)

Maven (Mars, 2013) – The spacecraft deploys its 11.4-meter span solar panels during testing, showing the technicians how it will look like when cruising and orbiting. Note the magnetometers at both ends of the solar panels – Credit: NASA (2013)

Chang’e 3 (The Moon, 2013) – The Lunar Landing Vehicle viewed from the Yutu Rover. The open hatch to the top left of the lander shields the 50-mm Ritchey–Chrétien Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope, the first long term lunar-based astronomical observatory – Credit: CNSA (2013)

Chang’e 3 (The Moon, 2013) – The Yutu Rover strolling on the Moon one day, in the merry merry month of… December too! – Credit: CNSA (2013)

Chang’e 3 (The Moon, 2013) – Close-up picture of the small Yutu Rover. It would fit in a 1 cubic-meter box – Credit: CNSA (2013)

Rosetta (Comet 67P/Churyumo-Gerasimenko, 2004) – Family portrait of the mission: still fixed to the probe, Philae captures the structure of Rosetta and one of probe’s 14 m-long solar panel. The peanut-shaped comet 67P/C-G is about 50 kilometers away in the upper background – Credit: ESA (2014)

Rosetta (Comet 67P/Churyumo-Gerasimenko, 2004) – Philae looks back at Rosetta for the last time as it leaves for the comet– Credit: ESA (2014)

Rosetta (Comet 67P/Churyumo-Gerasimenko, 2004) – The small lander Philae shot by the probe right after its release. It moves away to land on the comet– Credit: ESA (2014)

Rosetta (Comet 67P/Churyumo-Gerasimenko, 2004) – The probe monitored the landing of Philae and captured its first bounce. Both harpoons and the landing thruster failed to settle the lander on the surface at its first touchdown, and it bounced thrice before coming to a halt. This first rebound came close to escape velocity and nearly sent Philae around the Sun for ever– Credit: ESA (2014)

Rosetta (Comet 67P/Churyumo-Gerasimenko, 2004) – Where is Philae? Spoiler alert: the lander is nestled into a ravine of the comet, take a look at the right edge of the picture – Credit: ESA (2014)

Rosetta (Comet 67P/Churyumo-Gerasimenko, 2004) – Mosaic of the first two images from Philae safely on the surface. One of the lander’s three feet can be seen in the foreground – Credit: ESA (2014)

Chang’e 5-T1 (The Moon, 2014) – The Manfred Memorial Moon Mission experiment (4M) fixed inside the equipment bay of the third stage of the rocket. The briefcase-sized payload consisted of an amateur radio and an ionizing radiation dosimeter. Note the antenna made out of several pieces of a steel tape. The rocket stage has since impacted the Moon – Credit: OHB, LuxSpace (2014)

Schiaparelli EDM (Mars, 2016) – Once released from the Exo Mars Trace Gas Orbiter, the entry sequence ran smoothly up to the Heatshield ejection. Right after that the probe suffered premature Backshell/Parachute stack ejection and early Retro-rocket fire and plummeted the remaining 3.7 km down to the surface. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter located the impact area 54 km from the then-active Opportunity Rover. The Backshell and Parachute are visible to the lower left, the Heatshield in the upper right-hand corner and the crashed lander to the center left of the picture. Note the black spot at the lander position, suggesting that fuel tanks may have exploded upon impact – Credit: NASA, JPL (2016)

Falcon Heavy Test Flight (Solar orbit, 2018) – The Tesla Roadster fixed to the payload adapter that will be placed forever atop a Falcon Heavy upper stage. Both tubular structures hold a camera, and a third one was placed inside the car, between the seats. The plaque with an ‘X’ underneath the vehicle bears the names of the employees who worked on the project – Credit: SpaceX (2018)

Falcon Heavy Test Flight (Solar orbit, 2018) – Front view of the Roadster and the dummy astronaut dubbed ‘Starman’ in deep space. The support frame of the left camera is visible to the right and the third camera is visible above the shoulder of the spacesuit. The little red object in the center of the dashboard is a Hot Wheels miniature Roadster with a Starman figurine – Credit: SpaceX (2018)

Falcon Heavy Test Flight (Solar orbit, 2018) – Shot from the camera fixed to the left support structure. The Sun lights up the Roadster and the dummy astronaut just as if they were in a studio doing a model shooting. Note the Earth and the support frame reflecting on the car’s red paint – Credit: SpaceX (2018)

Falcon Heavy Test Flight (Solar orbit, 2018) – View from the camera inside the car, next to the spacesuit. Apart from the Hot Wheels miniature Roadster on the dashboard, there’s a copy of a novel in the glovebox along with a towel and a 5D optical disc from The Arch Mission Foundation, the “Solar Library”. The whole stack will soon be bleached white under the harsh solar radiation, the windscreen will be darkened and all parts made of natural and synthetic products such as the rubber tires, the steering wheel’s and seats’ leather and the spacesuit’s woven fabric will soon be disintegrated. It is also probable that over time some parts of the dummy (e.g. the helmet and arms) become loose and separate. Note the message on the dashboard and, above it, the shadow of the front camera on the windscreen – Credit: SpaceX (2018)

Falcon Heavy Test Flight (Solar orbit, 2018) – Copy of the Arch Library containing the Isaac Asimov Foundation Trilogy. One of those 2.5-cm diameter 5D optical disks is in the glove box of the Roadster – Credit: Arch Mission Foundation (date unknown)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – One of the two Mars Cube One 6U CubeSats being assembled in a JPL workshop among tapes, scissors and screwdrivers. Note both unfolded solar panels in the foreground, the big deployable S-Band Antenna in the background and the camera atop the little pyramid in the center of the image. Both ‘MarCo’ nano spacecraft rode along with InSight to provide real-time communications to Earth for the Mars lander during its EDL sequence and then resumed their flight in Solar orbit where they now remain– Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – The same flight hardware folded up and ready to be stacked on the rocket. Note the eight little cold-gas orientation thrusters grouped in pairs on each corner and the four yellow squares of the Standard Gain Antenna. 6U CubeSats are 10x20x30 cm in size and weight about 13.5 kg on Earth – Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – One of the first pictures of Mars shot by a CubeSat: the planet is the little dot in the fourth quadrant of the picture. The High Gain Antenna is visible to the right while its feed is to the left – Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) deployed on the surface. It will soon be shielded under a protective dome for the remainder of the mission – Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) is lowered on the surface. The white mole is visible at the top right hand corner in front of the instrument and ready to be inserted into the soil – Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – The Mole is the 35 cm-long and 3.5 cm-wide white cylinder partially buried. It is a self-hammering nail designed to burrow five meters down the surface to measure the thermal properties of Mars’ interior. However it achieved only a few centimeters after more than a year of effort due to unexpected Martian soil properties. On this picture, the Mole was backed off to analyse the situation. The rounded crosses next to the Mole are the HP3 instrument’s footprints – Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – Computer-enhanced self-portrait of the now-looking filthy spacecraft – Credit: NASA, JPL (2020)

InSight (Mars) – One of the last pictures from the probe. The SEIS dome is in the center with the Engineering cable sticking out of it, while the HP3 package is on the left and between it and the trenches, barely visible, are the buried Mole and its science cable. The object hanging from the top of the picture is the IDA robotic arm with the scoop in the retracted position and the five-digit grapple secured along the forearm. The scene remains the same as of today – Credit: NASA, JPL (2022)

InSight (Mars, 2018) – The lander captured by MRO from orbit. The black patch surrounding the spacecraft is disturbed soil from the landing thrusters and the bright object is the SEIS aluminum dome. Both Solar Panels are also clearly distinguable but have now probably collapsed under dust and frost weight, as it happened to its sister-ship Phoenix – Credit: NASA, JPL (2018)

Queqiao (Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2, 2018) – Image of the relay satellite just after separation from the rocket’s third stage – CNSA (2018)

Queqiao (Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2, 2018) – The Moon at the center of the picture and to its right the distant Earth seen from the vantage point. The shield at the top of the picture is the 4.2-meter diameter X-band antenna and the big box right in front of the camera is the NCLE radio-astronomy experiment – CNSA (2018)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The two Minerva II-1 Rovers ‘Hibou’ (left) and ‘Owl’ (right) pictured before stacking on the spacecraft. Note the half protective covers: the one to the left will be discarded on the surface of the asteroid while the other one will remain fixed to the probe. ‘Hibou’ is the french name for ‘Owl’ – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The Minerva II-2 Rover ready to be installed on the probe. It will be the last Rover to be released on the surface of the asteroid, almost a year after the other ones. The half protective hood to the left will also be discarded on the surface – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The Mascot Rover in its final stage of assembly. As the other three Rovers, it will be able to move on the surface of the asteroid thanks to an embedded spinning wheel whose inertia will be strong enough to displace such a lightweight box on the weak gravity field – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – the SCI, which stands for Small Carry-on Impactor, is a shaped charge gun: a 2.5-kg copper liner at its top will act as a bullet when it will be fired at the asteroid. Schrapnel from the SCI body will be sent to Solar orbit – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The wireless DCAM3 that will be released to shoot the SCI impact on the asteroid. It has probably hard landed on the surface by now – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Target Markers ready to be installed in the probe. Five of them will be flown, named TM-A to TM-E; all will be released on the surface except TM-D which is still inside the spacecraft – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Picture of a spare tantalum bullet in its casing. Two of them will be flown and only one fired to stir up surface material that will be collected by the probe’s horn – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The ArtSat2-Despatch space probe is the first art project sent into heliocentric orbit. This 30-kg 3D printed sculpture along with an amateur radio piggybacked the upper stage and sent signals for a month. The sculpture is wrapped around the radio sphere and the black antenna is barely visible at the top between the spiral – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Shin’en 2 was another secondary payload sent with the mission. It was a lightweight (17-kg) transponder also designed to test deep space communications – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Procyon was the third small payload sent along on the mission. This 59-kg probe was to perform a close fly-by of an asteroid but propulsion problems precluded the encounter and stranded it in heliocentric orbit – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The main probe set on a stool and ready to be placed on the payload adapter. Both red dishes protect the star trackers before the flight. Note the Sample Return Capsule at the ‘mouth’ of the spacecraft and the Mickey-Mouse-ears-like High Gain antennas. The small deployable DCAM-3 is also visible above and between both ‘eyes’. Once the asteroid samples delivered to the Earth, the probe was given an extended mission as Hayabusa2# Sharp to investigate other potentially dangerous asteroids that may collide with the Earth in the future – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Family portrait of the mission: the main spacecraft is at the top of the payload adapter while the secondary probes are on its sides. The ArtSat2-Despatch orange spiral is visible to the left with Procyon in front of it while Shin’en 2 is to the right. Note Hayabusa2’s black sampling horn retracted under the Sample Return Capsule – Credit: JAXA (2014)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Blurry image taken by the Minerva II-1A ‘Hibou’ Rover just after separation from the main probe. Hayabusa2 is the object at the top and below is the surface of the asteroid – Credit: JAXA (2018)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The Mascot Rover captured seconds before landing on the surface of Ryugu – Credit: JAXA (2018)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The SCI (Small Carry-on Impactor) is released while the main probe backs off to a safe distance. It will fire a projectile at the asteroid and will be destroyed in the process, sending its debris in solar orbit – Credit: JAXA (2019)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – Impact of the 2.5-kg copper projectile captured by the wireless deployable camera DCAM-3. The scale bar to the right is 25 meters in 5-meter intervals – Credit: JAXA (2019)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The white ball at the bottom of the picture is Target Marker TM-A being released to the surface of Ryugu – Credit: JAXA (2019)

Hayabusa2 (Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, 2014) – The Minerva II-2 Rover, viewed from the probe, on its way to the surface of Ryugu – Credit: JAXA (2019)

Chang’e 4 (The Moon, 2018) – The Lunar Landing Vehicle viewed from the Yutu 2 Rover. It is the first spacecraft ever to land on the far side – Credit: CNSA (2019)

Chang’e 4 (The Moon, 2018) – Another shot at the Lunar Landing Vehicle from the Yutu 2 Rover – Credit: CNSA (2019)

Chang’e 4 (The Moon, 2018) – The Yutu 2 Rover also strolling on the Moon one day, but on the far side and in January – Credit: CNSA (2019)

Chang’e 4 (The Moon, 2018) – Close-up picture of the Yutu 2 Rover – Credit: CNSA (2019)

Beresheet (The Moon, 2019) – The Lander is being presented to the Press during assembly. Note the stool that prevents the legs from collapsing under the Earth’s gravity field – Credit: SpaceIL (2019)

Beresheet (The Moon, 2019) – The digital time capsule fixed to the lander is a 5D optical disk with copies of the “Lunar Library I”, Israeli’s declaration of Independence, flag and songs, children’s drawings and memories of a Holocaust survivor – Credit: Bruce Ha, Arch Mission Foundation, SpaceIL (2019)

Beresheet (The Moon, 2019) – One of the last pictures taken by the probe before it impacted the surface due to a descent engine malfunction – Credit: SpaceIL (2019)

Chandrayaan-2 (The Moon, 2019) – The first Vikram Lander and the first Pragyan Rover being prepared for the mission. Unfortunately a software glitch during the terminal landing sequence prevented them from reaching the surface intact – Credit: ISRO (2019)

Chandrayaan-2 (The Moon, 2019) – The complete spacecraft ready to be stacked atop the launch vehicle. Note the Orbiter beneath the lander, in a similar configuration to the Chang’e Lunar Landing hardware – Credit: NASA (2019)

Chang’e 5 (The Moon, 2020) – The lander and ascent vehicles stack separates from the orbiter. The Moon is at the top right – Credit: CNSA (2020)

Chang’e 5 (The Moon, 2020) – A 50-cm wide Chinese National flag was erected on the Descent Stage. Unlike those of Apollo, it was designed to survive extreme temperatures and radiation to make sure that its colors will remain intact over the next decades. My personal guess is that China has planned to send Taikonauts walk on the Moon by 2049 and bring this flag back for the 100th anniversary of the revolution: the O-ring visible inside the flag staff is likely part of a release mechanism operable with a pressure-gloved finger. However, it may also have blew up at the Ascent Stage lift-off. The brackets at the back of the fabric suggest that it’s a single-sided flag; they probably belong to the unfolding system which is similar to the one applied in solar panel deployment for satellites – Credit: CNSA (2020)

Chang’e 5 (The Moon, 2020) – Part of the 3.6-meter long Coring Drill, one of the Lander footpad and, to the far right, the Chinese flag – Credit: CNSA (2020)

Chang’e 5 (The Moon, 2020) – The ascent vehicle lifts-off from the Moon. The bright light comes from the Sun, not from the ascent engine which can be seen in the middle of the picture. Unlike the Luna probes that were sent to a direct trajectory to the Earth, the ascent stage transferred the lunar samples to the return capsule waiting in orbit – Credit: CNSA (2020)

Osiris-Rex (Asteroid 101955 Bennu, 2016) – The spacecraft is about to be installed on the payload adapter behind him, and both will be placed inside the launch vehicle shroud visible in the background. Note the Sample return Capsule to the left. After delivering samples to Earth, the probe was sent back to heliocentric orbit to visit another asteroid, 99942 Apophis under a new name, Osiris-Apex – Credit: NASA (2020)

Osiris-Rex (Asteroid 101955 Bennu, 2016) – The TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) arm close to the surface of the asteroid during the sampling procedure – Credit: NASA (2020)

Osiris-Rex (Asteroid 101955 Bennu, 2016) – The TAGSAM head captured seconds after the sampling procedure and showing some escaping material – Credit: NASA (2020)

Osiris-Rex (Asteroid 101955 Bennu, 2016) – Separated from the sampling arm, the TAGSAM head is secured into the Sample Return Capsule. The lid to the left will close to protect the sampling head during the journey back to Earth and the re-entry – Credit: NASA (2020)

Emirates Mars Mission (Mars, 2020) – The Hope spacecraft during integration in a white room. As most Mars orbiters, the overall size and dimensions are comparable to a small car. Note its similarity to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – Credit: MBRSC (2020)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The spacecraft captured during its cruise by a small deployable wireless camera. The gray dome houses the landing platform and the Rover – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The free-flying wireless camera released in deep space to shoot the spacecraft during its coast to Mars. Another similar camera was released in Mars orbit and a third one on the surface – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – Portrait of the Orbiter over the Northern Ice Cap taken by the deployable wireless camera released in orbit. Note the missing aeroshell – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The Zhurong landing platform viewed from the Rover. Note that there are no backup ramps: the Rover could have been stranded atop the lander – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – Family portrait of the mission surface hardware done by the small deployable wireless camera dropped on the surface – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The little deployable wireless camera is visible on the surface between the dead-end tracks. The Rover has just dropped it and has backed-off for the family portrait – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The Rover begins its journey down South, leaving the inert Landing Platform which is visible in the distance. Note the Rover’s Solar Panel and the Communications Directional Antenna pointing up to the sky to reach the Orbiter – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The two rods in front of the Zhurong Rover are the Ground Penetrating Radar Antennas. Note the sand dune and way beyond it, in the upper left-hand corner, the Landing Platform Back Shell and Parachute – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – The Rover passes by the Zhurong Landing Platform Back Shell and Parachute – Credit: CNSA (2021)

Tianwen-1 (Mars, 2020) – Zhurong had traveled south for roughly 1.5 kilometer when MRO captured its track. The final resting place of the Rover is about 400 meters further down south, just below the edge of the picture. The clear stripes and chevrons on the surface of Mars are sand dunes, while both streaks from either side of the Landing Platform are impingements from the Retro-rockets on the surface – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars) – Hypersonic-impact crater of one of the two 77.5-kg tungsten Cruise Mass Balance Devices released during the Entry, Descent & Landing (EDL) sequence. They helped shifting the probe’s center of gravity during the atmospheric entry – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – Overhead view from the Rover showing the Sky Crane delivering its payload on the surface. The bridles and umbilical will be cut and the Sky Crane will make an evasive maneuver to crash away from the Rover – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – The very same scene shot from the Sky Crane, the Rover is still a few feet above the ground. Note the wind stripes blown by the Sky Crane’s thrusters on the surface – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – The Adaptive Caching Assembly Cover was fixed under the belly of the Rover and protected the instrument from dust and rock projections at landing – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – Ingenuity’s Debris Shield was also fixed under the belly of the Rover and prevented the small helicopter from being damaged at landing – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – The Flight Abrading Bit blocked the drill bit slot during flight and landing to keep it from being contaminated. It was discarded shortly before the first abrading and sampling operations – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – The Ingenuity helicopter drone – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – Ingenuity flies past the Sky Crane debris field up in the right-hand corner. A small piece of debris is also visible in the center of the picture. Note Ingenuity’s shadow – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – The shattered Back Shell still attached to the Main Chute, pictured by Ingenuity. It shows how difficult it is to land on Mars: even a 21.5-meter wide parachute is unable to soft-land a 575-kg structure. Note Ingenuity’s shadow in the bottom left – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – A shredded piece of Multi Layer Insulation blanket, likely from the Sky Crane, snagged in an outcrop and flapping in the breeze – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – Another piece of debris to the left: a Dacron netting material commonly used in thermal blankets and approximately 3 to 4 cm across, shattered either from the Back Shell or from the Sky Crane – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – A ball of knotted, stringlike material blown by the wind passes by the Rover. It is probably another piece of Dacron netting. Debris from EDL hardware may not only pose as a potential contamination source for the experiments, but may also be a risk of entanglement to the Rovers – Credit: NASA, JPL (2021)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – One of the ten sealed sample tubes dropped on the surface by the Rover. These tubes are backups in case Perseverance is unable to deliver its body-cached tubes to the future Mars Sample Return Mission. In that particular case two helicopter drones similar to Ingenuity will collect these surface tubes and store them in the MSRM launcher – Credit: NASA, JPL (2022)

Perseverance (Mars, 2020) – Computer-enhanced self-portrait of the Rover in the ‘Three Forks’ Sample Depot. The ChemCam is looking down at sample tube #9 while #8 is visible in the background between the dead-end tracks. Sample tubes #5, 6 and 7 are barely visible further back to the left and the remaining four are too far away on the left to be located – Credit: NASA, JPL (2023)

Lucy (Asteroid belt, 2021) – The probe is being installed into the launch vehicle shroud. Note the bat-like folded solar wings – Credit: NASA (2021)

Dart (Asteroid 65803 Didymos 1 Dimorphos, 2021) – The LiciaCube undergoing thermal vacuum tests. The Cubesat shot Dart’s impact on the asteroid and is the only surviving hardware of the mission – Credit: NASA, APL (2021)

Dart (Asteroid 65803 Didymos 1 Dimorphos, 2021) – The probe undergoes a series of tests and checkouts to confirm that it is ready for launch. The whole stack will impact the asteroid except for the small LuciaCube cubesat that is housed into the rectangular-shaped dispenser visible on the golden side of the spacecraft– Credit: NASA, APL (2021)

Dart (Asteroid 65803 Didymos 1 Dimorphos, 2021) – The probe separates from the injection stage and begins its journey to the double asteroid system – Credit: NASA, APL (2021)

James Webb Space Telescope (Sun-Earth Lagrange Point L2, 2021) – One of the last shots of the probe on its way to its destination. Note that the single Solar array is already deployed – Credit: NASA, ESA (2021)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – Argomoon during processing. It was the first of the ten CubeSat to be released out of the ICPS as its mission was to take photographs and confirm the success of CubeSat deployment – Credit: Argotec (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Lunar IceCube was a CubeSat orbiter that was intended to estimate the amount of water ice deposits on the Moon. It is unknown whether contact has been established or not with the probe – Credit: NASA, MSU (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Omotenashi Lander squeezed between the cylindrical Retro Rocket (left) and the Airbag (right). The Retro was to ignite for a few seconds 400 meters above the surface before separating from the Lander. The small probe would have then hard-landed on the surface of the Moon protected by the Airbag – Credit: JAXA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Omotenashi Lander is slipped into the CubeSat airframe. The camera is facing the solar cell panel that failed to generate power in time, stranding the stack in Cislunar space – Credit: JAXA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The EQUULEUS CubeSat with its Solar Arrays fully deployed during testing. It is the first CubeSat to orbit the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange Point – Credit: JAXA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Biosentinel CubeSat undergoing testing in an Anechoic Chamber – Credit: NASA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – A yeast experiment aboard Biosentinel measures the impact of deep space radiation on DNA repair of living organisms over long periods of time beyond Earth orbit and into heliocentric orbit – Credit: NASA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The NEA Scout CubeSat on a test bench. It was developed as a low-cost solar sail spacecraft capable of encountering Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA), hence its name. However, contact was lost with the probe shortly after ICPS deployment, and its status remains unknown – Credit: NASA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – Deployment test of the 85 m2 and 2.5 μm thick solar sail of the NEA Scout CubeSat. Note how incredible such a huge sail can fit in an already fully-laden 10x20x30 cm box. It is unknown whether the sail has unfolded in space or not – Credit: NASA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The LunaH-Map Cubesat was designed to orbit the Moon for possible presence of water ice deposits across the South pole, but a fault with the propulsion system precluded this goal. The spacecraft’s trajectory has now evolved into a stable orbit around the Sun – Credit: NASA, ASU (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Lunir Cubesat was launched as a demonstration mission to the Moon to collect surface spectroscopy and thermography during a fly-by, but it also ran into an unexpected communications issue that kept it from conducting any observation – Credit: NASA (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – Team Miles was to demonstrate navigation in deep space using innovative plasma thrusters and test deep space communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth. Contact was not established with the spacecraft and its current status is unknown – Credit: Team Miles (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The CuSP CubeSat undergoing fit check with its dispenser. Dispensers are fixed on the ICPS and push CubeSats away from the launch vehicle. The CubeSat suffered a total communications blackout after successfully deploying its solar arrays– Credit: NASA, Don E George (2022)

Artemis 1 (The Moon, 2022) – Prelaunch picture showing the CubeSats secured inside Orion’s ICPS adapter: clockwise from the top right hand corner is an empty slot, Lunar IceCube, NEA Scout, a second empty slot, Omotenashi, LunIR, the avionics unit (black box), Equuleus, a third empty slot, LunaH-Map, CuSP, the slot for BioSentinel which is about to be stacked, Argo Moon and Team Miles. The three empty slots were for Cislunar Explorers, Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E3) and Lunar Flashlight which never met the installation deadline. However the latter hitchhiked to space a month later with Hakuto-R Mission 1 – Credit: NASA (2022)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Rashid Rover is about to be loaded onto the Lander. Note the surface deployment hardware consisting of a platform lowered by an arm – Credit: SpaceX, iSpace (2022)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Lunar Flashlight cubesat that didn’t make it with Artemis 1 is undergoing tests before piggybacking the Hakuto-R spacecraft– Credit: SpaceX, iSpace (2022)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The NGK solid-state battery fixed to the lander is a technology demonstrator made of semiconductors – Credit: iSpace (2022)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The Sakanaction music data & Sorato CAD data disc was initially slated to hitchhike the financially doomed Google X-prize Hakuto Rover. The plaque bearing the names of iSpace crowdfunders is visible beneath it – Credit: iSpace (2022)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (The Moon, 2022) – The spacecraft is ready to be stacked on the launch vehicle. The gray ring at the bottom of the lander is the adapter to the rocket – Credit: SpaceX, iSpace (2022)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (The Moon, 2022) – Screenshot from SpaceX’s launch mission control showing the probe separating from the second stage and headed for the Moon. Note the speed which is close to the Earth escape velocity for that altitude – Credit: SpaceX, iSpace (2022)

Luna 25 (The Moon, 2023) – The Lander ready to be stacked on the Fregat third stage visible in the background. Note the vertical Solar Panels, the Radiator protected under a red blanket and the gray-colored robotic arm folded on the side. The spacecraft was lost after a failed orbital maneuver – Credit: IKI RAN (2023)

Chandrayaan-3 (The Moon, 2023) – The second Pragyan Rover steps down the ramps of the Lander. They are to date the southernmost (69.3°S latitude) spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon which is not the south pole as some media have claimed – Credit: ISRO (2023)

Chandrayaan-3 (The Moon, 2023) – The Vikram Lander shot by the small Pragyan Rover. The little tilted object underneath the ramp and between the two rightmost landing struts is the ILSA lunar seismicity activity instrument, while the vertical rod between the two leftmost landing struts is the ChaSTE lunar surface thermophysical experiment – Credit: ISRO (2023)

SLIM (The Moon, 2023) – The probe presented to the press before stacking on the launch vehicle. Note the thrusters at the top and the Solar Cells that will face the zenith once the spacecraft set on the surface – Credit: JAXA (2023)