Children often say that they want to grow up to be astronauts, but few ever actually do. The internet provides incredible stories about these incredible people who have contributed to the field, and you can read about ten of them at https://www.space.com/6378-nasas-10-greatest-science-missions.html.

At this website, the curious can discover more about Pioneer 10, which was launched in 1972 and 1973. According to this site, “Pioneer 10 was the first probe to travel through the solar system’s asteroid belt, a field of orbiting rocks between Mars and Jupiter.”

The astronauts on Pioneer 10 were important with their groundbreaking technology, but shortly after they made their flybys, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes made many important discoveries. They was able to discoveries about Jupiter and Saturn. Scientists learned a lot from these excursions, including the fact that Saturn has rings and Jupiter does, too.

Another development on the list is Wmap. The exploration of astronauts allowed the creation of Wmap which measures, with unprecedented accuracy, the temperature, but not in a way that we have for generations.

Section 7 tells about the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft that is being used to reach Saturn. It was launched in 1997

You can learn about Viking, the first probe to touch down on Mars, from this article, too. Maybe, after you see what has been done since the early ‘70’s, that dream of becoming an astronaut may be even more attainable. You can check out the article to find out more.