Robotic Exploration of the Solar System: Part 4: The Modern Era 2004 –2013

In Robotic Exploration of the Solar System, Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide a comprehensive account of the design and management of deep-space missions, the spacecraft involved – some flown, others not – their instruments, and their scientific results.

This fourth volume in the series covers the period 2004 to the present day and features:

• coverage of the Rosetta and Curiosity missions up to the end of 2013
• coverage of Mars missions since 2005, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Phoenix and Fobos-Grunt, plus a description of plans for future robotic exploration of the Red Planet
• coverage of all planetary missions launched between 2004 and 2013, including the Deep Impact cometary mission, the MESSENGER Mercury orbiter, the New Horizons Pluto flyby and the Juno Jupiter orbiter
• the first complete description of the Chinese Chang’e 2 asteroid flyby mission ever published
• extensive coverage of future missions, including the European BepiColombo Mercury orbiter and international plans to revisit the most interesting moons of Jupiter and Saturn.