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Definition: space probe from The Penguin Dictionary of Science

An unmanned spacecraft designed to travel great distances to investigate other astronomical bodies or conditions in space.

space probe

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
space vehicle carrying sophisticated instrumentation but no crew, designed to explore various aspects of the solar system (see space exploration ). Unlike an artificial satellite , which is placed in more or less permanent orbit around the earth, a space probe is launched with enough energy to escape the gravitational field of the earth and navigate among the planets. Radio-transmitted commands and on-board computers provide the means for midcourse corrections in the space probe's trajectory; some advanced craft have executed complex maneuvers on command from earth when many millions of miles away in space. Radio contact between the control station on earth and the space probe also provides a channel for transmitting data recorded by on-board instruments back to earth. Instruments carried by space probes include radiometers, magnetometers, and television cameras sensitive to infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light; there also may be special detectors for micrometeors, cosmic rays, …
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Full text Article space probe

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
space vehicle carrying sophisticated instrumentation but no crew, designed to explore various aspects of the solar system (see space exploration ). Unlike an artificial satellite , which is placed in more or less permanent orbit around the earth, a space probe is launched with enough energy to…
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Full text Article space probe

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Any instrumented object sent beyond Earth to collect data from other parts of the Solar System and from deep space. The first probe was the Soviet Luna 1, which flew past the Moon in 1959. The first successful planetary probe was the US Mariner 2, which flew past Venus in 1962, using a transfer…
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Full text Article space probe

From The Macquarie Dictionary
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Full text Article space probe

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
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Full text Article space probe

From The Penguin Dictionary of Science
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Full text Article space probe

From Collins English Dictionary
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Full text Article space probe

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
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Full text Article European Space Agency (ESA)

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Space and space-technology research organization headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), both established in 1964. Members are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, …
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Full text Article Vesta, in astronomy

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(vĕs'tӘ), in astronomy, the fourth asteroid to be discovered. It was found in 1807 by H. Olbers . It is the third largest asteroid in size, with a diameter of c.326 mi (525 km). Its average distance from the sun is 2.36 astronomical units , and the period of its orbit is 1,325 days. Vesta is the…
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Full text Article probe

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
a. A slender, flexible surgical instrument used to explore a wound or body cavity. b. An electrode or other device that can be placed inside something to take and convey measurements. c. A substance, such as DNA, that is radioactively labeled or otherwise marked and used to detect or identify…
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