Image of Voyager spacecraft
Click on image for full size
NASA/JPL

Voyager

The rare arrangement of planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the 1980's made it possible for the Voyager spacecrafts to visit them over a 12 year span instead of the normal 30. They used gravity assists to swing from one planet to the next, conserving fuel.

Voyager 2 was launched on Aug. 20, 1977, followed by Voyager 1 on Sep. 5. Both encountered Jupiter in 1979, returning photographs and information on its many moons. Scientists learned that Jupiter's Great Red Spot is really a complex storm, and that Io, one of Jupiter's moons, has active volcanism. These volcanoes are caused by extreme tidal bulges, due to the gravitational pull of Jupiter and its other moons on Io.

Voyagers 1 and 2 then continued to Saturn, with Voyager 1 arriving in November 1980 and Voyager 2 in August 1981, where they studied the true composition of Titan's atmosphere, believed to be similar to Earth's ancient environment. They also learned that Saturn's rings formed from particles broken off its moons by comets and meteors.

Voyager 2 then headed for Uranus and Neptune. It gave us our first close-range look at the two planets, finding an unusually shaped magnetic field around Uranus, caused by the tilt of that planet's axis. Voyager 2 later learned that the strongest winds in our solar system exist on Neptune, and that Neptune's Great Dark Spot is really a hole in its atmosphere.

The Voyager missions discovered a total of 21 new moons and returned information that has changed the field of space science. The two spacecrafts have almost reached the boundary of our solar system called the heliopause. They will continue transmitting for another 20 years until their nuclear generators no longer supply adequate energy.


Last modified September 26, 2000 by Jennifer Bergman.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

The Great Red Spot of Jupiter

The Great Red Spot is thought to be a hurricane which has been raging on Jupiter for at least 400 years. The connected page shows an image of the Great Red Spot next to Tropical Storm Emily for comparison....more

Administrator Goldin's Statement on NASA's Fortieth Anniversary

This is Administrator Goldin's speech about NASA's 40th anniversary: "Forty years ago, in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created with the boldest and most noble of missions:...more

Missions Possible!

The servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in early March was a great success. The Telescope has been declared healthy and fit...and is better than ever! Though instruments will be tested for...more

Voyager to Take the Lead!

At approximately 5:00 p.m. EST on February 17, 1998, the Voyager 1 spacecraft will become the spacecraft that has traveled farthest away from the Earth. For 25 years, Pioneer 10 has been in the lead in...more

Happy Birthday to Voyager!

NASA's Voyager mission is 25 years old and still going strong! Both spacecrafts Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 continue to travel through space sending signals back to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California....more

Discover Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It is also one of the brighter objects in the night sky. No one knows for sure who discovered Jupiter, but we know the ancient Greeks named him after...more

Discover Saturn

Like the inner planets and Jupiter, Saturn is clearly visible in the night sky. The ancient Greeks named the planet after the god of agriculture and time. It wasn't until 1655, however, that we knew Saturn...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA