| LAUNCH DATE |
NAME |
DESTINATION |
COUNTRY |
MISSION DETAILS |
MAIN ACHIEVEMENT |
CURRENT STATUS |
| 24th
January 1990 |
Hiten
(Muses-A) |
Moon |
Japan
 |
Spacecraft launched to enter lunar orbit and
measure dust (?!) in between Earth and the Moon and while in orbit around
the Moon (specifically at points where a satellite could orbit at a
stationary point in between the Earth and the Moon, using the opposing
gravities of the two bodies). Hiten entered lunar orbit on 2nd October
1990 and conducted dust experiments while in Earth orbit. Hiten didn't
discover anything spectacularly exciting, but it was the first Japanese
mission to the Moon, and also the first mission to the Moon for over two
decades. |
First mission to the Moon from a country that
wasn't the United States or the Soviet Union.. |
Hiten began losing its orbital position
(decaying) after two months in orbit around the Moon. It was intentionally
dropped to crash to the Moon's surface on 10th April 1993. |
| 24th April 1990 |
Hubble Space Telescope |
Earth |
USA
 |
The Hubble Space Telescope was
launched from the space shuttle Discovery. Named after astronomer Edwin
Hubble, it was designed to observe space from outside the Earth's
atmosphere. However, the telescope had a faulty primary mirror which
resulted in faulty images. Astronauts returned to the telescope while in
orbit around Earth in 1993 and fixed the fault and since then, the
telescope has been a fundamental part of modern astronomy. Another three
servicing missions to the telescope have taken place since with a fifth
and final one planned for 2008. |
Hubble is the first (and so far
only) telescope to observe space while in orbit around Earth. |
Hubble is still operational in
Earth orbit and is expected to continue to operate until at least 2013
when the superior James Webb Space Telescope gets launched. |
| October 1990 |
Ulysses |
Sun and Jupiter |
USA and Europe
|
Mission to observe the Sun by orbiting over its
poles. The mission was planned in the early 1980s and was due to launched
from the Space Shuttle Challenger. The Challenger disaster in 1986 delayed
the launch of Ulysses which would have been launched later that year from
the same space shuttle. It was launched in October 1990 and sent to
Jupiter. It used Jupiter's gravity to push it into an orbit taking the
probe above and below the Sun, enabling it to observe the Sun's polar
regions. Although primarily a mission to study the Sun, the craft has also
made observations of Jupiter and, as an unplanned part of its mission,
crossed the tail Comet Hyakutake in 1996. |
. |
Craft is still in operation, orbiting the Sun
from a distance as far away as Jupiter. The craft is expected to remain
operational until 2008. |
| 2nd May 1992 |
Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-49) |
Earth |
USA
|
Launch of NASA's newest space
shuttle, designed to replace Challenger which was lost 6 years earlier.
The mission lasted almost nine days, during which astronauts captured a
communications satellite (INTELSAT V1) which had been launched two months
earlier but couldn't operate in its orbit. They added a new motor to it and
placed in into its correct orbit. |
First launch of
Endeavour, the
last shuttle to be added to the Space Shuttle fleet. |
Endeavour's first mission ended
on 16th May 1992. Endeavour is still in operation and is due to be
retired, along with the other space shuttles, in 2010. |
| 25th September 1992 |
Mars Observer |
Mars |
USA
|
Attempted orbiter of Mars equipped with
instruments to study the geology, geophysics and climate of Mars. Mission
ended in failure when contact was lost with the spacecraft on 22nd August
1993, just before it was due to enter Mars orbit. |
First American mission to Mars in 17 years. |
It is not known whether the craft did achieve
Mars orbit or whether it flew by the planet to go into an orbit around the
Sun. |
| 25th January 1994 |
Clementine |
Moon |
USA
|
First American mission to the Moon in over
twenty years. Clementine examined the Moon from orbit. It imaged the
Moon's surface using ultraviolet and infrared cameras as well as the
standard ones they had been using for years. Clementine's main discovery
was the possible presence of water in craters in the polar regions of the
Moon. This would be enough water to support a human base on the Moon and
fuel for rockets stopping by on journeys to other planets (a possible way
to get to Mars would be for a rocket to go the Moon, refuel there and take
off again. A Moon launch would require a lot less fuel than a launch from
Earth). |
First American mission to the Moon in over two
decades. |
Clementine's mission ended in June 1994 when
telemetry data from the space craft became unusable. |
