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Some people complain that the age of exploration is over. But for the past 50 years we have made it our mission to explore far and wide in the solar system, sending robotic probes to every nook and cranny we can find.
The last half-century has been a golden age. Since Mariner 2’s successful flyby of Venus in 1962, NASA and other space agencies have launched spacecraft to every planet in the solar system and even a few to asteroids and comets. In honor of this 50th anniversary, NASA’s history office is hosting a special symposium Oct. 25 and 26 to look back at the important milestones accomplished in this era.
There is a definite imbalance in planetary exploration. Certain popular planets – *cough* Venus and Mars *cough* — have had many spacecraft launched at them. Other planets, not so much. The truth is that many mysteries remain on all the bodies in our solar system and we could always use more robust robotic exploration of other worlds.
While NASA’s cutbacks have scaled down astronomers' expectations for future missions, there will continue to be amazing achievements in solar system exploration. Here, we take a look at the best images from the last 50 years of planetary probes and look forward to seeing what happens in the next 50.
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