Since I’m now deep down in my (non fiction) book about space (I’m due to submit to the publisher in a couple of weeks, after more than one year of work) I thought I could share here some of the sources I have used to compile the chapter on space exploration, especially on its sixty year of history (the first Sputnik was launched in 1957. So long ago!)
And here they are.
NASA: EXPLORE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/index.html
Siddiqi, Asif A. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016. NASA History Program Office, 2018. (This is probably the most complete and accurate book I have ever found to get all the information in one place. The best thing? It is free for download. Grab it!)
OUTER SPACE MISSIONS https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/?order=launch_date+desc&per_page=50&page=0&search=&fs=&fc=&ft=&dp=&category=
Siddiqi’s book is also highly recommended for all Russian missions, not only NASA’s. On the specific Venera missions (by the Soviet) Don Mitchell’s website is another one, with excellent imagery: http://mentallandscape.com/V_Venus.htm
The following link is instead about the European Space Agency’s missions (hint: ESA Rosetta and now BEPI Colombo are among them): ESA http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/SMART-1
China is, after Russia and the US, the country that has sent more “objects” (among satellites, probes, spacecraft and so on) to space. The last mission just launched yesterday: Chang’e-4 lunar lander is on its way to explore -to a detail never done before – the far side of the moon. This is the website of CNSA, China’s national space agency: http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6443408/index.html
This one is instead about JAXA, the Japanese space agency’s mission. One of them (HAYABUSA 2) is making the news right now: http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/index.html
Finally, this is about one specific mission, probably the most spectacular NASA ever pulled out. It was in 1970s, but the Voyager mission is still going on. NASA (1998) Voyager: The Grand Tour of Big Science, in FROM ENGINEERING SCIENCE TO BIG SCIENCE https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter11.html
This for the general part. If you need something specific, please feel free to get in touch with me.