Space Probes
Embark on an interstellar adventure with Learning Mole as we unveil the secrets of our cosmic backyard in this episode of High Five Facts! 🚀🌌 Join us as we explore the incredible feats and discoveries made by space probes, the intrepid explorers of the universe. From the iconic Voyager missions to the cutting-edge Perseverance rover, we’ll highlight five space probes that have revolutionized our understanding of distant worlds. Get ready to high five the trailblazers that continue to expand the horizons of human exploration beyond our home planet! 🛰️🔭
Transcription for Space Probes
Please note this transcript is generated automatically and may contain errors.
Today we are going to learn five super facts about space probes. Fact number one, space probes are unmanned robotic spacecraft that explore our solar system and send data and images back to earth. Some probes, orbit planets and moons to study them long-term while others fly by for a quick encounter. The first probes were sent by the Soviet Union and United States in the 1960s to study the Moon, Venus and Mars. Since then, space agencies have learned how to navigate probes to the outer planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
For example, the Casini probe orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 and discovered new moons, studied the planet’s, rings, and even landed a probe on Titan. Fact number two, probes have also been essential for studying the sun and its effects on space weather. The Parker Solar probe launched in 2018 and has flown closer to the sun than any spacecraft with standing extreme heat of 1,377 degrees Celsius. Parker’s data on solar, wind and the sun’s magnetic fields helps us predict solar storms that can impact Earth. Similarly, the Ulysses probes studied the poles of the sun for the first time after flying over its poles in 1994 and 1995.
Learning about solar activity can help protect astronauts and satellites from radiation. Fact number three, probes allow us to study places in the solar system where humans cannot yet travel like the hostile surface of Venus. The Magellan probe used radar to map 98% of Venus’s surface after it entered orbit in 1990 and the European Space agencies Venus Express studied the planet’s toxic atmosphere between 2006 and 2014. Future Venus Missions will help examine if Venus could have once supported life and serve as practice for probes we might send to other star systems.
One fact number four, probes have even journeyed beyond our solar system into interstellar space. NASA’s Voyager one and two probes originally sent to study the outer planets in the 1970s have now traveled farther than any human made objects. As they journey out to the stars, they carry golden records containing sounds and images from Earth in case they are ever intercepted by intelligent life. Pioneer 10 and 11 and New Horizons also carry human artifacts beyond the solar system. Fact number five, future probes will continue exploring Mars in efforts to find signs of past life and potentially pave the way for crude missions.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Juice will survey Jupiter’s icy oceans moons starting in 2030. Closer to home. The lunar flashlight probe aims to detect ice deposits on the moon that could supply future human outposts. Robotic probes remain crucial to expanding our understanding of space through their sensors and cameras. I hope you enjoyed my five super facts about space probes. See you soon.
