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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Space Missions & Launches

Space probe

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

nounCommon term

In astronomy & space, space probe means: A robotic spacecraft without a crew that is sent to study planets, moons, comets or deep space and sends its data back to Earth.

In Turkish: uzay sondası, sonda

How it is used

Often shortened to 'probe'. News stories say a probe is launched, arrives at, flies past, orbits or lands on its target. Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is the most distant human-made object.

Example sentences

  1. The space probe will reach Jupiter's moons after an eight-year journey.

  2. Signals from the space probe now take more than twenty hours to reach Earth.

Common collocations

  • send a space probe
  • deep-space probe
  • the probe arrived
  • probe data
  • spacecraftAny vehicle designed to travel or operate in space, with or without a crew, such as a satellite, a probe or a crew capsule.
  • flybyA manoeuvre in which a spacecraft passes close to a planet, moon or other body to study it or use its gravity, without going into orbit or landing.
  • landerA spacecraft designed to land on the surface of a planet, moon, asteroid or comet and usually stay in one place to make measurements.
  • missionA planned flight or project in space with a specific goal, such as sending a probe to Mars or taking a crew to a space station.
  • trajectoryThe path that a rocket, spacecraft or other moving object follows through space, especially when it is not a closed orbit.

More terms: Space Missions & Launches

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