Talk:List of active Solar System probes

Proposal to rename page and change scope

Having a list of active probes separate from that at List of Solar System probes and Timeline of Solar System exploration may be a good idea, but I think that the currently unpopulated sections "inactive probes" and "destroyed probes" may duplicate what's at List of Solar System probes to an unnecessary extent. I therefore suggest that we rename this article to "List of active space probes", and remove said sections. What are your thoughts? Matt 01:57, 9 October 2007 (UTC).

Hm, well I created this page because I wanted to know what probes were currently operating in the solar system, and it occurs to me that someone else may similarly seek information on which dead probes now litter our system. This would provide a useful resource in that case...if it contained any data, that is =)

Anyways, perhaps we could 'hide' those categories for now, if no one has the inclination to populate them; I won't object to their outright removal & article renaming if that's the consensus, but I think my vote would probably be 'nay'. --Xiaphias 07:46, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

OK, for now I've just commented out the unpopulated section to make the page look a bit neater. Matt 17:19, 21 October 2007 (UTC). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.129.130.228 (talk)

Looks good to me, it was too barren before. Someday I'll get around to filling out that section, if no one else does. --Xiaphias (talk) 03:43, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Dawn

someone add DAWN, then —Preceding unsigned comment added by SquallLeonhart ITA (talk • contribs) 16:05, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

• Good point. Done. Matt 17:18, 21 October 2007 (UTC).

Proposal to rename Venucian to Venusian

Under "Active Probes", under "Mission in Progress", it says:

"Venus Express, modeled after the Mars Express, is currently undertaking its thousand-day mission to Venus. During this time, it will collect data on Venucian atmosphere and cloud conditions.",

and although "Venucian" has been used (http://www.raw360.com/item/265), according to the Wikipedia "Venus" page, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus):

"The adjective Venusian is commonly used for items related to Venus, though the Latin adjective is the rarely used Venerean; the now-archaic Cytherean is still occasionally encountered."

and in the Wikipedia "Venusian" page, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venusian) we find:

"Etymology

The word "Venusian" is simply a combination of the name of the planet Venus and the suffix -ian, formed on the analogy of "Martian" (as if = "Marsian"). It is usually pronounced [vɪˈnu.ʒən] or [vɪˈnu.ʃən]. Based on the latter pronunciation, the spelling "Venutian" is sometimes found.

The classically correct form of the word should be "Venerean" or "Venerian" (cf. Latin: venereus, venerius "belonging to the goddess Venus"), but these forms were only used by a few authors (e.g. Robert A. Heinlein). Scientists sometimes use the adjective "Cytherean" to describe Venus, from the goddess' epithet Cytherea."

My spell checker flags "Venucian" and a Wikipedia search for "Venucian" yields only this ("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_probes_by_operational_status") page, so I conclude the spelling "Venucian" is simply an expedient oversight by the author, more concerned with matters of fact in the fluid and scantily documented field of space. Still, in light of the "Venucian" usage elsewhere, I post the suggestion that it be changed to the commonly used and more accessible "Venusian" rather than correcting it myself. --SalineBrain 13:32, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

As I'm typing this reply, I notice that Firefox's spellcheck program backs you up. I'll make the change myself, thanks for the suggestion. --Xiaphias (talk) 03:37, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

A Digression...

Can I just comment that this article epitomizes everything I love about Wikipedia? I created it because I was curious about what man-made objects are currently drifting out in the distant reaches of our solar system. It's very cool to come back a few months to find the current missions updated and the latest missions added. If I'd published this material to a personal website, it would quickly have become outdated and obsolete; but instead, this resource that I created became self-sustaining, self-perpetuating. Now *I* can use this page as a resource.

So, thanks guys. --Xiaphias (talk) 03:53, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Inclusion of lunar probes

To me, the main raison d'être of this article is the list of missions in progress, and personally I think that lunar probes should be included there (as they currently are, though I didn't add them myself). I'm not so sure about the merits of including lunar probes in the other sections: there are quite a few of them. (But then I don't totally see the point of those other sections anyway, since there are already many other lists of all probes that have ever been launched.) To reflect the article's current contents, I have for now reinstated the "which for these purposes includes lunar probes" text in the intro. If the consensus decision is that lunar probes should not be included under "missions in progress" (which, as I say, I wouldn't personally support) then the SELENE and Chang'e 1 entries need to be deleted along with this text. Matt 14:08, 13 December 2007 (UTC).

(EC) I copyedited the lede, and noticed that there was some disagreement over the contents of this list. The lede indicated that lunar probes are included, and I see that some are on the list (including SELENE). So, I'd recommend leaving that section of the lede in place while those probes remain on the list. If they're removed, I'd recommend adding a See Also: Lunar Probes, so that the information is easily found. The soviet union had at least two dozen lunar probes, and (in theory) those would need to be included here, as well as the Viking landers and others. We should mention them, even if only to add that see also link. Best, ZZ ^Claims ~ Evidence 14:12, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Discussion on a defenitive definition on what should and shouldn't be listed here

Well, first of all, Very good job on this... Exactly what I've been trying to create myself on the side (the "Active" section of the article)... This ressource is great! I believe that destroyed probes, dead probes or any other inactive probes should be listed on a new page titled "Interstellar trash" or something similar. However, I have nothing against being listed on this same page.

The rule for a probe to deserve the right to be listed here, is it's position being beyond earth orbit or planned to be beyond it... In the hypothetical case of a sattelite designed solely to orbit earth but having it's mission changed to another destination (ex : Going to the moon, requiring only a little push when using a low energy transfer), it should't be listed until the mission it's mission is approved.

In this context, spacecraft at lagrange points would be included... Who knows, it's possible that an interplanetary object like a comet or an asteroid migh pass close and the probe be redirected to it, as it was the case before. Spacecraft at the moon would also be included, etc... In fact, probably everything beyond earth's geostationnary orbit!

The goal would be to list every man-made object currently operationnal and transmitting data have left our orbit.

For example, SOHO should be included in this list because a spacecraft observing the sun, from beyond earth's orbit, is in fact a spacecraft exploring our solar system, the sun being part of it. More important, it's position is away from the earth, and there's a precedent : ISEE-3 was at a lagrange point observing the sun before being redirected to observe comets.

P.S. Everything I talked about mainly concers the "Active" section, but could be considered too, for the other sections! --Jerem © 2002-2006 (talk) 19:27, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Proposed change of name and scope

I propose renaming this article to "List of active Solar System probes" and deleting the sections "Inactive Probes" and "Recalled / Destroyed Probes", which have been unstarted or incomplete for two years and show no sign of ever being completed. For people interested in lists of historic probes there are at least four other articles they can look at (List of Solar System probes, Timeline of Solar System exploration, Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes and List of interplanetary voyages). 86.134.9.89 (talk) 14:09, 7 December 2009 (UTC).

• Since no one has objected I have done this. Another Matt (talk) 21:30, 8 January 2010 (UTC).

Dawn and 2001 mars oddesy

Dawn has now reached vesta so it should be moved from the en route section, after it leaves for Ceres perhaps it should be re added?

Also 2001 mars is listed as lasting untill at least sept. 2010, it is now well into 2011 so if it is still operational (as i believe it is)some update should be added, if it has ceased functioning it should change to mission complete 71.195.122.131 (talk) 08:28, 4 August 2011 (UTC)