Spacecraft
From Citizendium - Reading time: 2 min
Spacecraft is a generic term used to describe all vehicles that are designed to fly in space. Normally this would apply to vehicles that reach orbit, or travel beyond the Earth. However, spacecraft is also used to describe vehicles that reach space, normally defined as 100 kilometers (62 miles) altitude, on a sub-orbital flight.
A satellite is an object that orbits the earth, or other space body. A satellite can either be natural (e.g. a moon) or artificial. Artificial satellites can either be manned or unmanned.
Classes of Spacecraft[edit]
Manned Spacecraft[edit]
Orbital (Satellites)[edit]
- Apollo
- Gemini
- ISS - International Space Station
- Mercury
- Mir
- Salyut
- Skylab
- Soyuz
- Soyuz-TM
- Space Shuttle
- Vostok
- Voskhod
Sub-orbital (Ballistic)[edit]
Earth Orbit Satellites[edit]
- Anik
- Arabsat
- Astra
- Aussat
- BSB – British Satellite Broadcasting
- Cosmos
- Direct-TV
- Discover
- ECS – European Communications Satellite
- Echo
- Explorer 1
- Faisat
- GOES - Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite program
- HST – Hubble Space Telescope
- Ikonos
- Insat
- Intelsat-2
- Intelsat-3
- Intelsat-4
- Intelsat-5
- Intelsat-6
- Intelsat-7
- Landsat
- Leasat
- Marecs
- Meteosat
- Milstar
- Morellos
- Nimbus
- Ofeq
- OGO – Orbiting Geophysical Observatory
- Olympus
- Oscar
- OSO – Orbiting Solar Observatory
- OTS-2 – Orbital Test Satellite
- Pageos
- Palapa
- Polyot
- Polyus
- Prospero X-4
- Rocsat
- SBS – Satellite Business Systems
- SCORE
- SEDS
- Sirius Satellite Radio
- Skipper
- Skynet-1
- Skynet-2
- Skynet-3
- Skynet-4
- SPOT - Satellite Pour Observation de la Terre
- Sputnik - first artificial satellite (1957)
- Symphonie
- Syncom
- Telstar
- UHF Follow On
- Uhuru
- UK X-4
- Vanguard
- Worldspace
- Wresat
- XM Satellite Radio
Lunar Probes[edit]
Interplanetary Probes[edit]
- Deep Space-1
- GALEX[1]
- ICE - International Comet Explorer
- ISEE - International Sun-Earth Explorer
- Pioneer-4
- Pioneer-5
- Pioneer-6
- Pioneer-7
- Pioneer-8
- Shoemaker - aka NEAR - Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous
- Stardust
- Ulysses - aka ISPM (International Solar Polar Mission)
Mars[edit]
- Mariner-4
- Mariner-6
- Mariner-7
- Mariner-9
- Mars
- Mars Express
- Mars Pathfinder
- Mars Sojourner
- Phobos
- Spirit rover
- Opportunity rover
- Viking 1
Mercury[edit]
- Mariner-10 - via Venus
Saturn[edit]
- Cassini–Huygens
- Pioneer-10 - via Jupiter
- Pioneer-11 - via Jupiter
- Voyager 1 - via Jupiter
Halley's Comet[edit]
Jupiter[edit]
Venus[edit]
Outer Planets[edit]
- Voyager 2 - Uranus and Neptune via Jupiter and Saturn
Sounding Rockets[edit]
- Aerobee
- Black Brandt
- Black Knight
- Bumper
- Skylark
- Vertikal
- V-2 - first spacecraft (1944), initially a military weapon, later used as sounding rocket.
Spacecraft in Literature & Art[edit]
- Bellerophon - Colonist ship named in Forbidden Planet
- Starship Enterprise - Interstellar ship from the Star Trek series.
- Serenity - Interstellar ship from the Firefly television series.
External Links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Wikipedia has an extensive article about GALEX.
See also[edit]
Media & Articles[edit]
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