Space agencies the world over have been launching robotic emissaries to various bodies in the solar system since the late 1950s. When their jobs are done, most of these spacecraft remain either stranded in orbit or on the surface of planets, asteroids, comets and moons. Here we tour some highlights of those robots lost in space. Credits: NASA
SOLAR SYSTEM Space agencies the world over have been launching robotic emissaries to various bodies in the solar system since the late 1950s. When their jobs are done, most of these spacecraft remain either stranded in orbit or on the surface of planets, asteroids, comets and moons... Credit: NASA
MERCURY NASA's MESSENGER entered Mercury's orbit in 2011 and remained there for just over four years before it ran out of fuel. At that point, in 2015 it intentionally was crashed into the pockmarked planet... Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
VENUS Between 1961 and 1984, the Soviet Union had sent probe after probe to explore Venus. Known as the Venera series, the program achieved a number of firsts at another planet: atmospheric entry; a soft, or undamaged, landing; and return of images from the surface... Credit: NASA
MOON Of all visited solar system objects, the moon has received attention from the greatest number of countries. Spacecraft from the U.S., Soviet Union, Japan, China, India and Europe have all investigated the Earth's closest neighbor... Credit: CNSA
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MARS Mars' rovers are the celebrities of robotic space exploration, and many of them, such as Opportunity and Curiosity and are still going strong exploring the red planet. Yet 10 other landershave either failed or expired over the years and dot the Martian surface... Credit: NASA/JPL
JUPITER Because Jupiter is a gas giant without a solid surface, spacecraft cannot land or crash there. The intense pressure from the Jovian atmosphere, however, is enough to destroy any spacecraft that enter... Credit: NASA
TITAN When the Huygens probe landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, it achieved the first outer solar system landing. It transmitted for about an hour and a half after touching down on Titan's surface--a relatively long time, as engineers expected to get only 30 minutes of data... Credit: ESA
EROS NEAR Shoemaker's touchdown on the asteroid Eros in 2001 signaled the end of its five-year mission. Before coming to rest on the surface, it had collected as much data as possible on the composition, appearance and properties of Eros... Credit: NASA
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COMET It took ten years after its 2004 launch for the European Space Agency's Philae to reach the comet it would call home. After initially bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, it finally came to a stop in a part of the asteroid with spotty sunlight... Credit: NASA/JPL
![Robotic Comet Lander Philae Says Good-Bye [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/8EEC008E-4A41-4A93-9102F7A65C5A94D8.jpg?w=590&h=393)
