Discovery and exploration of the Solar System Soviet "Lunokhod 1", which landed on the Moon in 1970. The first to visit another planet was Sojourner, which travelled 500 metres across the surface of Mars in 1997. The only manned rover to visit another world was NASA's Lunar rover, which traveled with Apollos 15, 16 and 17 between 1971 and 1972. Overview of some missions to the Solar System. See also the categories for missions to , , , and . Crewed exploration of the Solar System ended in 1972. The first human being to reach space (defined as an altitude of over 100 km) and to orbit
Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute on one or more aspects of lunar science investigations of the Moon (including lunar samples), from the Moon, and on the Moon. In 2013 the NLSI became the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute and expanded its scope to include Near-Earth asteroids and Phobos and Deimos. The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) is composed of thirteen U.S. teams, and ten international partners. The teams are listed below: US TEAMS: Focus: Formation of terrestrial planets and asteroid belt, modeling of the Moon's origin and Phobos/Deimos, history of NEAs and lunar bombardment, NEA origins, identification and characterization boulder.swri.edu Focus: Studies