Before the advent of Caspian, the exploration of Jupiter consisted of only a few automated spacecraft, the first (Pioneer 10) visiting the planet in 1973. The majority of these missions were flybys – detailed observations carried out by the probe without it ever even entering orbit of the gas giant.
During their passage by Jupiter, NASA probes Pioneer 10 and 11 obtained the first close-up images of the planet, as well as charting Jupiter’s intense radiation belts and locating the planet’s magnetic field.
Between 1995 and 2003, the Galileo probe made observations from repeated elliptical orbits around Jupiter, passing low over the Galilean moons. These close approaches resulted in images of unprecedented detail.