Scientists use powerful telescopes—on Earth and in space—to study distant stars and galaxies. The famous Hubble Space Telescope, which revealed the cosmos in great detail for the first time, will soon be replaced by the even more powerful James Webb Space Telescope. Meanwhile, the Kepler mission has scoured a section of our galaxy in search of other planets.
In this illustration oriented along the ecliptic plane, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope looks along the paths of NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft as they journey through the solar system and into interstellar space. Hubble is gazing at two sight lines (the twin cone-shaped features) along each spacecraft's path. The telescope's goal is to help astronomers map interstellar structure along each spacecraft's star-bound route. Each sight line stretches several light-years to nearby stars. Image Credits: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)
Five robotic spacecraft have sufficient velocity to escape the bounds of our solar system and travel into interstellar space, but only one—NASA’s Voyager 1—has crossed that boundary so far. Voyager 1 transitioned into interstellar space in 2012. Voyager 2 likely will be next. Both spacecraft, launched in 1977, are still in contact with NASA’s Deep Space Network.
NASA’s New Horizons, which flew past Pluto in 2015 and is currently exploring the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, will eventually leave our solar system. As will the now inactive Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft.
Significant Events
Significant Events
Before 1983, the only confirmed planets were those in our own solar system, though scientists believed many planets were in orbit around distant stars. Then a team in 1983 spotted a disc around Beta Pictoris believed to be made up of the raw materials of planet formation—the first evidence of an exoplanet. The first exoplanet was discovered nine years later in 1992 and the numbers of known planets beyond our solar system have been growing rapidly ever since.
"Jump in. If you want to be a reporter, report. If you want to be a writer, write. Sitting around thinking about it is sometimes helpful, but don’t overdo it."
"If you enjoy puzzles, science or engineering may be the field for you. Scientific research and engineering is a continuous series of solving puzzles."
"By the time I got to college, at some point I was like, 'This is cool, maybe I could do this for my job.' A lot of my friends were bouncing around between different majors but I knew I wanted to do astronomy."
"I’ve always been very determined to have a career that I believed in, that would allow me to learn something new every day. I want to be constantly learning and I feel really lucky to always been able to have jobs like that, where every day I am exposed to something new -- people, ideas, or ways of doing things."
The following missions are planetary science missions with enough velocity to travel beyond our solar system. For a full list of mission to explore beyond our solar system, visit NASA’s Astrophysics Division.
Careers
10 Careers That Explore Space
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Astronaut
Astronauts pave the way for human exploration beyond our Earth. They are pilots, scientists, engineers, teachers, and more.
The important thing about being a scientist or an engineer is learning how to think critically, learning how to be creative, learning problem solving and learning how to learn.
Explore in 3D
Explore in 3D—Eyes on Exoplanets
Get set for launch. “Eyes on Exoplanets” will fly you to any planet you wish—as long as it's far beyond our solar system. This fully rendered 3D universe is scientifically accurate, allowing you to zoom in for a close look at more than 1,000 exotic planets known to orbit distant stars.
With the click of a mouse, you can visit newly discovered gas giants, Earth-sized planets and “super Earths”—rocky like ours, but gargantuan. The program is updated daily with the latest finds from NASA's Kepler mission and from ground-based observatories around the world as they hunt for planets like our own.
