Eight NASA planetary missions will continue

[lpetrich]

NASA Extends Exploration for 8 Planetary Science Missions | NASA

The missions – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), InSight lander, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, OSIRIS-REx, and New Horizons – have been selected for continuation, assuming their spacecraft remain healthy. Most of the missions will be extended for three years; however, OSIRIS-REx will be continued for nine years in order to reach a new destination, and InSight will be continued until the end of 2022, unless the spacecraft’s electrical power allows for longer operations.

Nothing on Voyagers 1 and 2, however.

All these spacecraft are very expensive, with several years of planning and design and construction behind each one of them, and they have been in action for several years, so it's good to try to get as much out of them as is feasible.

 

[lpetrich]

 OSIRIS-REx renamed OSIRIS-APEX for its extended mission, a flyby of near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis.
OSIRIS-REx | NASA
OSIRIS-REx Mission

• 2016 Sep 8 - Launch
• 2017 Sep 22 - Earth flyby
• 2018 Dec 3 - Arrival at near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu
• 2018 Dec 31 - Orbit insertion - distance 1.75 km, period 62 hrs (later distance 1 km)
• 2020 Oct 28 - Closest approach and sample collection
• 2021 May 10 - Orbit departure
• 2023 Sep 24 - Sample delivery, start of extended mission
• 2029 Apr 21 - Orbit insertion around Apophis

 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

• 2009 Jun 18 - Launch
• 2009 Jun 23 - Orbit insertion

 New Horizons
New Horizons | NASA
New Horizons: Beyond Pluto

• 2006 Jan 19 - Launch
• 2006 Jun 13 - Flyby of asteroid 132524 APL
• 2007 Feb 28 - Flyby of Jupiter, gravity assist by that planet
• 2015 Jul 14 - Flyby of Pluto
• 2019 Jan 1 - Flyby of KBO 486958 Arrokoth

 

[lpetrich]

The remaining five spacecraft are all Mars explorers.

 2001 Mars Odyssey
Mars Odyssey Orbiter - NASA Mars

• 2001 Apr 7 - Launch
• 2001 Oct 24 - Orbit insertion

 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - NASA Mars

• 2005 Aug 12 - Launch
• 2006 Mar 10 - Orbit insertion

 MAVEN
Mars MAVEN Orbiter - NASA Mars

• 2013 Nov 18 - Launch
• 2014 Sep 22 - Orbit insertion

 InSight
InSight Mission – NASA's InSight Mars Lander

• 2018 May 5 - Launch
• 2018 Nov 26 - Landing
• 2018 Nov 26 - Flyby by Mars Cube One (MarCO) cubesat released by the spacecraft

 Curiosity (rover)
Home | Curiosity – NASA Mars Exploration

• 2011 Nov 26 - Launch
• 2012 Aug 6 - Landing

 

[lpetrich]

Mars rovers (launch, landing, end of mission if ended, distance traveled):

•  Sojourner (rover) - 1996 Dec 4 - 1997 Jul 5 - 1997 Sep 27 --- 100 m
•  Spirit (rover) - 2003 Jun 10 - 2004 Jan 4 - 2011 May 25 --- 7.73 km
•  Opportunity (rover) - 2009 Jul 8 - 2004 Jan 25 - 2019 Feb 13 -- 45.18 km
•  Curiosity (rover) - 2011 Nov 26 - 2012 Aug 6 - (active) -- 27.55 km (2022 Feb 24)
•  Perseverance (rover) - 2020 Jul 30 - 2021 Feb 18 - (active) - 10.27 km (2022 May 3)
•  Zhurong (rover) - 2020 Jul 23 - 2021 May 22 - (active) - 1.921 km (2022 May 5)

 

[Bomb#20]

 OSIRIS-REx renamed OSIRIS-APEX for its extended mission, a flyby of near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis.

• 2029 Apr 21 - Orbit insertion around Apophis

Good idea -- should make our calculation of Apophis' orbit a whole lot more precise.