Lunar and planetary robotic exploration missions in the 20th century. Space science reviews

Abstract. The prospect of traveling to the planets was science fiction at the beginning of the 20th Century and science fact at its end. The space age was born of the Cold War in the 1950s and throughout most of the remainder of the century it provided not just an adventure in the exploration of space but a suspenseful drama as the US and USSR competed to be first and best. It is a tale of patience to overcome obstacles, courage to try the previously impossible and persistence to overcome failure, a tale of both fantastic accomplishment and debilitating loss. We briefly describe the history of robotic lunar and planetary exploration in the 20th Century, the missions attempted, their goals and their fate. We describe how this enterprise developed and evolved step by step from a politically driven competition to intense scientific investigations and international cooperation. 1. Opening the Space Age One of the most exciting developments in the 20th Century has been the opening of the space frontier with flights of robotic spacecraft to the Moon and to the planets beyond. This article presents an abbreviated history of this adventure, from its inception with the launch of Luna 1 on January 2, 1959, to the Stardust mission launched on February 7, 1999, the last such spacecraft to be launched in the 20t