The 1990s

10 missions

Cassini-Huygens

NASA/ESA1997-2017Saturn orbit and Titan landing

Orbited Saturn for 13 years. Discovered geysers on Enceladus suggesting a subsurface ocean. The Huyg...

Hubble Space Telescope

NASA/ESA1990Earth orbit

Launched with a flawed mirror that produced blurry images. Repaired by astronauts in 1993 in one of ...

International Space Station

NASA/Roscosmos/ESA/JAXA/CSA1998Earth orbit

The largest structure ever built in space, weighing 420 tonnes. Continuously inhabited since Novembe...

Ulysses

ESA/NASA1990-2009Solar polar orbit

The first spacecraft to survey the Sun from above the poles. Used Jupiters gravity to escape the ecl...

Mars Pathfinder

NASA1996-1997Mars surface

Landed with giant airbags on July 4, 1997, bouncing a dozen times before stopping. Deployed Sojourne...

Lunar Prospector

NASA1998-1999Moon orbit

A low cost orbiter that mapped the composition of the entire Moon. Found hydrogen at both poles, str...

Stardust

NASA1999-2006Comet sampling

Flew through the coma of comet Wild 2 at 6 km per second, catching dust in blocks of aerogel. Return...

NEAR Shoemaker

NASA1996-2001Asteroid orbit and landing

The first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid. Mapped the peanut shaped Eros for a year from...

Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA1999X-ray astronomy

The most powerful X-ray telescope ever flown, launched under the first woman shuttle commander, Eile...

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

NASA1991-2000Gamma ray astronomy

The second of the NASA Great Observatories. Detected thousands of gamma ray bursts from every direct...