Voyager Missions: Exploring the Solar System

The Voyager missions are two robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 1977 to study the outer solar system. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were designed to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment that allowed them to visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune on a single trajectory. The Voyagers have made groundbreaking discoveries about the planets, their moons, and the outer reaches of our solar system.

Voyager 1

Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977, and is now the farthest human-made object from Earth. It passed Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980. After its encounter with Saturn, Voyager 1 was sent on a trajectory out of the plane of the solar system. It is now in interstellar space, the region between stars.

Voyager 2

Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977, and followed a longer trajectory that allowed it to visit Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited both Uranus and Neptune. It is now also in interstellar space.

Voyager Mission Highlights

The Voyager missions have made a number of important discoveries, including:

• The discovery of active volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter
• The discovery of rings around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
• The discovery of new moons around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
• The discovery of the first evidence of a magnetic field around Uranus
• The discovery of the first evidence of a magnetic field around Neptune
• The first close-up images of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
• The first close-up images of Saturn’s rings
• The first close-up images of Uranus’s rings
• The first close-up images of Neptune’s rings
• The first close-up images of Neptune’s Great Dark Spot

The Golden Record

Each Voyager spacecraft carries a golden record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images that represent the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The record is intended to be a message to any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find it. The record includes greetings in 55 languages, music from different cultures, and images of Earth and its inhabitants.

The Voyager Missions Today

The Voyager missions are still operating today, although they are now very far from Earth. They continue to send back data about the interstellar medium, the region between stars. The Voyager missions are a testament to human ingenuity and our desire to explore the universe. They have given us a glimpse into the vastness of space and have helped us to understand our place in the cosmos.

Voyager Mission Timeline

Date	Event
September 5, 1977	Voyager 1 launched
August 20, 1977	Voyager 2 launched
March 5, 1979	Voyager 1 flies by Jupiter
July 9, 1979	Voyager 2 flies by Jupiter
November 12, 1980	Voyager 1 flies by Saturn
August 25, 1981	Voyager 2 flies by Saturn
January 24, 1986	Voyager 2 flies by Uranus
August 25, 1989	Voyager 2 flies by Neptune
December 17, 2004	Voyager 1 enters interstellar space
November 5, 2018	Voyager 2 enters interstellar space

Conclusion

The Voyager missions have been a remarkable success, providing us with a wealth of information about the outer solar system and the interstellar medium. They are a testament to human ingenuity and our desire to explore the universe. The Voyagers continue to send back data today, and will likely continue to do so for many years to come.