Space probe comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014. First probe to Jupiter. Radio communications were lost with Pioneer 10 on January 23, 2003, because of the loss of electric power for its radio transmitter, with the probe at a distance of 12 billion kilometers (80 AU) from Earth. First probe to fly by Saturn. (Communications were later lost due to power constraints and vast distance.) "Voyager 1" is a 733-kilogram probe launched September 5, 1977. It visited Jupiter and Saturn and was the first probe to provide detailed images of the moons of these planets. "Voyager 1" is the farthest human-made object from
Mercury (planet) several meters. Not until the first space probe flew past Mercury did many of its most fundamental morphological properties become known. Moreover, recent technological advances have led to improved ground-based observations. In 2000, high-resolution lucky imaging observations were conducted by the Mount Wilson Observatory 1.5 meter Hale telescope. They provided the first views that resolved surface features on the parts of Mercury that were not imaged in the mission. Most of the planet has been mapped by the Arecibo radar telescope, with resolution, including polar deposits in shadowed craters of what may be water ice. Reaching Mercury from Earth poses