Voyager
A mockup of the Voyager spacecraft
Organization	NASA
Mission type	Flyby
Flyby of	Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
Launch date	August 20, 1977 (11253 days ago)
Launch vehicle	Titan III-E Centaur rocket
Mission duration	undefined (11253 days since launch)
NSSDC ID	1977-076A
Webpage	NASA Voyager website
Mass	721. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Neptune ( English|AmE] ] is the eighth and farthest Planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays The Titan IIIC was a space booster used by the United States Air Force. Centaur is a Rocket stage designed for use as the upper stage of space Launch vehicles Centaur boosts its Satellite payload to its final Orbit A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the The International Designator (or NSSDC ID) is an international naming convention for Satellites It consists of the launch year a 3-digit incrementing launch number 9 kg
Power	420 W

Voyager 2 is an unmanned interplanetary spacecraft launched on August 20, 1977. A robotic spacecraft is a Spacecraft with no humans on board that is usually under Telerobotic control A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is A spacecraft is a Vehicle or machine designed for Spaceflight. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Identical in form to its sister Voyager program craft, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 followed a slower trajectory that allowed it to be kept in the ecliptic (the plane of the Solar System) so that it could be sent to Uranus and Neptune by means of gravity assist during the 1981 encounter at Saturn. See also Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyager program consists of a pair of unmanned scientific probes Voyager 1 and The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram robotic Space probe of the outer Solar system and beyond launched September 5, The ecliptic is the apparent path that the Sun traces out in the sky during the year The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. Neptune ( English|AmE] ] is the eighth and farthest Planet from the Sun in the Solar System. In Orbital mechanics and Aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot, gravity assist or swing-by is the use of the relative movement and Because of this trajectory, Voyager 2 could not see the moon Titan up close as its twin had, but the probe did become the first and only spacecraft to travel to Uranus and Neptune, thus completing the Planetary Grand Tour, a rare geometric arrangement of the outer planets that only occurs once every 176 years. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Titan (ˈtaɪtən, or as The Planetary Grand Tour was an ambitious plan to send unmanned probes to the outermost planets of the solar system ^[1]

Voyager 2 is perhaps the most productive space probe yet deployed, visiting four planets and their moons, including two primary visits to previously unexplored planets, with powerful cameras and a multitude of scientific instruments, at a fraction of the money later spent on specialized probes such as the Galileo spacecraft and the Cassini-Huygens probe. Galileo was an Unmanned spacecraft sent by NASA to study the Planet Jupiter and its moons Named after the Astronomer Cassini–Huygens is a joint NASA / ESA / ASI Robotic spacecraft mission currently studying the planet Saturn and its Along with Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and New Horizons, Voyager 2 is an interstellar probe. Pioneer 10 ( Pioneer-F) was the first Spacecraft to travel through the Asteroid belt, which it entered on July 15, 1972 Pioneer 11 was the second mission (after its sister probe Pioneer 10) to investigate Jupiter and the Outer solar system and the first to explore the planet The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram robotic Space probe of the outer Solar system and beyond launched September 5, New Horizons is a Robotic spacecraft mission by NASA currently underway An interstellar probe is a Space probe which has left -- or is expected to leave -- the Solar system and enter interstellar space (typically defined as

Mission profile

Voyager 2 launch on August 20, 1977 with a Titan 3E Centaur. The Titan IIIC was a space booster used by the United States Air Force.

Voyager 2 was originally planned to be Mariner 12, part of the Mariner program. The Mariner program was a program conducted by the American space agency NASA that launched a series of robotic interplanetary probes

Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Titan III-E Centaur rocket. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Cape Canaveral from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County Florida, United States, near the center of that Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The Titan IIIC was a space booster used by the United States Air Force. Centaur is a Rocket stage designed for use as the upper stage of space Launch vehicles Centaur boosts its Satellite payload to its final Orbit A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the Ground crews became engrossed in a launch problem with Voyager 1 and forgot to send an important activation code to Voyager 2. This caused the probe to shut down its main radio receiver. Fortunately, ground crews were able to establish contact through the spacecraft's back-up radio receiver. In the process of doing all of this, a fuse was blown in the power supply of the primary receiver, permanently disabling it, and thus the back-up receiver had to be relied upon for the entire mission. If anything had happened to it, the useful mission of "Voyager 2" would have been over with.

Jupiter

The closest approach to Jupiter occurred on July 9, 1979. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) It came within 570,000 km (350,000 miles) of the planet's cloud tops. It discovered a few rings around Jupiter, as well as volcanic activity on the moon Io. The planet Jupiter has a system of rings known as the rings of Jupiter or the Jovian ring system. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Io (ˈaɪoʊ, or as Greek That was the first time an active volcano has been observed on another celestial body.

The Great Red Spot was revealed as a complex storm moving in a counterclockwise direction. An array of other smaller storms and eddies were found throughout the banded clouds.

Discovery of active volcanism on the satellite Io was easily the greatest unexpected discovery at Jupiter. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Io (ˈaɪoʊ, or as Greek It was the first time active volcanoes had been seen on another body in the solar system. Together, the Voyagers observed the eruption of nine volcanoes on Io, and there is evidence that other eruptions occurred between the Voyager encounters.

Europa displayed a large number of intersecting linear features in the low-resolution photos from Voyager 1. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Europa (jʊˈroʊpə; or as At first, scientists believed the features might be deep cracks, caused by crustal rifting or tectonic processes. The closer high-resolution photos from Voyager 2, however, left scientists puzzled: The features were so lacking in topographic relief that as one scientist described them, they "might have been painted on with a felt marker. " Europa is internally active due to tidal heating at a level about one-tenth that of Io. Europa is thought to have a thin crust (less than 30 kilometers or 18 miles thick) of water ice, possibly floating on a 50-kilometer-deep (30 mile) ocean.

Two new, small satellites, Adrastea and Metis, were found orbiting just outside the ring. Adrastea (, or as in Greek Αδράστεια also known as Jupiter XV, is the second by distance and the smallest of the four inner moons of Jupiter TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Metis (, or as in Greek Μήτις A third new satellite, Thebe, was discovered between the orbits of Amalthea and Io. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Thebe (, or as in Greek Θήβη

Saturn

The closest approach to Saturn occurred on August 25, 1981. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981

While passing behind Saturn (as viewed from Earth), Voyager 2 probed Saturn's upper atmosphere with its radio link to measure temperature and density profiles. Voyager 2 found that at the highest levels (7 kilopascals pressure) Saturn's temperature was 70 kelvins (−203 °C), while at the deepest levels measured (120 kilopascals) the temperature increased to 143 kelvins (−130 °C). The kelvin (symbol K) is a unit increment of Temperature and is one of the seven SI base units The Kelvin scale is a thermodynamic The north pole was found to be 10 kelvins cooler, although this may be seasonal (see also Saturn Oppositions). A season is one of the major divisions of the Year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in Weather.

After the Saturn flyby, the camera platform on Voyager 2 locked up briefly, putting plans to officially extend the mission to Uranus and Neptune in jeopardy. Neptune ( English|AmE] ] is the eighth and farthest Planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Fortunately, the mission team was able to fix the problem — caused by overuse that temporarily depleted its lubricant — and the probe was given the go-ahead to examine Uranus.

Saturn taken by Voyager 2.

Iapetus by Voyager 2 spacecraft, August 22, 1981.

Color image of Enceladus, almost full disk.

Titan.

Uranus

Main article: Exploration of Uranus

The closest approach to Uranus occurred on January 24, 1986. The exploration of Uranus has been solely through the Voyager 2 spacecraft with no other visits currently planned Events 41 - Gaius Caesar (Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel Despotism, is Assassinated by his disgruntled Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Voyager 2 discovered 10 previously unknown moons; studied the planet's unique atmosphere, caused by its axial tilt of 97. Uranus has twenty-seven named moons. Five of them are massive enough to have achieved Hydrostatic equilibrium and so would be considered Dwarf planets In Astronomy, axial tilt is the Inclination angle of a planet's rotational axis in relation to its orbital plane. 8°; and examined its ring system. The planet Uranus has a system of rings intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn and the simpler systems around Jupiter and In this planetary flyby, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986, coming within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of the planet's cloud tops. Events 41 - Gaius Caesar (Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel Despotism, is Assassinated by his disgruntled Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar)

Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system. It orbits the Sun at a distance of about 2. 8 billion kilometers (1. 7 billion miles) and completes one orbit every 84 years. The length of a day on Uranus as measured by Voyager 2 is 17 hours, 14 minutes. Uranus is distinguished by the fact that it is tipped on its side. Its unusual position is thought to be the result of a collision with a planet-sized body early in the solar system's history. Given its odd orientation, with its polar regions exposed to sunlight or darkness for long periods, scientists were not sure what to expect at Uranus.

Voyager 2 found that one of the most striking influences of Uranus' sideways position is its effect on the tail of the magnetic field, which is itself tilted 60 degrees from the planet's axis of rotation. The magnetotail was shown to be twisted by the planet's rotation into a long corkscrew shape behind the planet. The presence of a magnetic field at Uranus was not known until Voyager's arrival.

Radiation belts at Uranus were found to be of an intensity similar to those at Saturn. The intensity of radiation within the belts is such that irradiation would quickly darken (within 100,000 years) any methane trapped in the icy surfaces of the inner moons and ring particles. This may have contributed to the darkened surfaces of the moons and ring particles, which are almost uniformly gray in color.

A high layer of haze was detected around the sunlit pole, which also was found to radiate large amounts of ultraviolet light, a phenomenon dubbed "dayglow. " The average temperature is about 60 kelvins (-350 degrees Fahrenheit). Surprisingly, the illuminated and dark poles, and most of the planet, show nearly the same temperature at the cloud tops.

The moon Miranda, innermost of the five large moons, was revealed to be one of the strangest bodies yet seen in the solar system. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Miranda (mɨˈrændə) is the smallest Detailed images from Voyager's flyby of the moon showed huge fault canyons as deep as 20 kilometers (12 miles), terraced layers, and a mixture of old and young surfaces. One theory holds that Miranda may be a reaggregation of material from an earlier time when the moon was fractured by a violent impact.

All nine previously known rings were studied by the spacecraft and showed the Uranian rings to be distinctly different from those at Jupiter and Saturn. The ring system may be relatively young and did not form at the same time as Uranus. Particles that make up the rings may be remnants of a moon that was broken by a high-velocity impact or torn up by gravitational effects.

Uranus viewed from 18 million kilometers.

A photo of Uranus taken by Voyager 2.

Uranus Final Image.

Voyager 2 shot of the Uranian rings.

Neptune

Main article: Exploration of Neptune

The closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989. The exploration of Neptune has only begun with one explorer Voyager 2, which visited on August 25, 1989. Neptune ( English|AmE] ] is the eighth and farthest Planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Since this was the last major planet Voyager 2 could visit, it was decided to make a close flyby of the moon Triton, regardless of the consequences to the trajectory, as with Voyager 1's encounter with Saturn and its moon Titan. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Triton (ˈtraɪtən, or as in Greek The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram robotic Space probe of the outer Solar system and beyond launched September 5, TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Titan (ˈtaɪtən, or as

The probe also discovered the Great Dark Spot, which has since disappeared, according to Hubble Space Telescope observations. The Hubble Space Telescope ( HST; also known colloquially as "the Hubble" or just "Hubble" is a space telescope that was carried into Originally thought to be a large cloud itself, it was later postulated to be a hole in the visible cloud deck.

For many years, beginning in the late 19th century, it was widely believed than an unseen planet (dubbed "Planet X") was influencing Uranus and Neptune, as their observed and predicted positions differed. This belief brought about the 1930 discovery of Pluto, and persisted as it became increasingly clear that Pluto does not have the mass to account for these discrepancies. When Voyager 2 passed Neptune, it became possible to precisely measure Neptune's mass. Neptune turned out to be 0. 5% less massive than previously believed, a difference comparable to the entire mass of Mars. When Uranus and Neptune's orbits were recalculated using the most accurate figure, it became clear that the erroneous mass figure - not the gravity of an unseen planet - caused the orbital discrepancies which had long vexed the astronomical community. ^[2]

With the 2006 decision of the International Astronomical Union to reclassify Pluto as a "dwarf planet", the 1989 flyby of Neptune by Voyager 2 became the point when every planet in the solar system had been visited at least once by spacecraft. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a Celestial body Orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded

Voyager 2 image of Neptune

Voyager 2 image of Triton

Escaping the solar system

Since its planetary mission is over, Voyager 2 is now described as working on an interstellar mission, which NASA is using to find out what the solar system is like beyond the heliosphere. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. The heliosphere is a bubble in space "blown" into the Interstellar medium (the hydrogen and helium gas that permeates the Galaxy) by the Like Voyager 1 around three years before, Voyager 2 crossed into the heliosheath, the last section of the heliosphere before interstellar space, in October 2007. Each Voyager carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc in the event that either spacecraft is ever found by intelligent aliens. The Voyager Golden Record is a Phonograph record included in the two Voyager Spacecraft launched in 1977 The disc carries images of Earth and its lifeforms, a range of scientific information, and a medley, "Sounds of Earth", that includes the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore and a variety of music.

As of March 7, 2008, Voyager 2 is at a distance of around 85. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common 52 AU (approximately 12. The astronomical unit ( AU or au or au or sometimes ua) is a unit of Length based on the distance from the Earth to the 761 terameters) from the Sun, deep in the scattered disc, and traveling outward at roughly 3. TERA is a shielded Twisted pair connector for use with Category 7 twisted-pair data cables developed by The Siemon Company and standardized in 2003 by The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. The scattered disc (or scattered disk) is a distant region of the Solar System that is sparsely populated by icy Minor planets known as scattered 3 AUs a year. ^[3] It is more than twice as far from the Sun as Pluto, and far beyond the perihelion of 90377 Sedna, but not yet beyond the outer limits of the orbit of Eris. In Celestial mechanics, an apsis, plural apsides (ˈæpsɨdɪːz is the point of greatest or least distance of the Elliptical orbit of an object from TemplateInfobox Planet.--> 90377 Sedna (ˈsɛdnə) is a Trans-Neptunian

On October 30, 2007, Voyager 2 passed the termination shock into the heliosheath, approximately 1 billion miles (1. Events 637 - Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The heliosphere is a bubble in space "blown" into the Interstellar medium (the hydrogen and helium gas that permeates the Galaxy) by the 6 billion km) closer to the Sun than Voyager 1 did. The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram robotic Space probe of the outer Solar system and beyond launched September 5, ^[4] This is due to the local interstellar magnetic field of deep space. The southern hemisphere of the solar system's heliosphere is being pushed in. ^[5]

Voyager 2 is not headed toward any particular star. It will pass by the star Sirius at a distance of 1. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky with a visual Apparent magnitude of &minus1 32 parsecs (4. History The first direct measurements of an object at interstellar distances were undertaken by German Astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel in 1838 3 ly, 25 trillion mi) in about 296,000 years. A light-year or light year (symbol ly) is a unit of Length, equal to just under ten trillion Kilometres As defined by A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States ^[6]

Voyager 2 is expected to keep transmitting until at least after 2025, over 48 years since launch. ^[7]

Current status

Voyager 2, as of 19 September 2007, is at −53. 72° declination and 19. In Astronomy, declination (abbrev dec or δ) is one of the two coordinates of the Equatorial coordinate system, the other being either 674 h Right Ascension, placing it in the constellation Telescopium as observed from Earth. Right ascension (abbrev RA; symbol α) is the Astronomical term for one of the two Coordinates of a point on the Celestial sphere Telescopium (ˌtɛlɪˈskɒpiəm is a minor southern Constellation identified by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, the 18th century French Astronomer

Current location and trajectories of Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft

On November 30, 2006, a command was incorrectly decoded by the spacecraft as an instruction to turn on heaters associated with the probe's magnetometer. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The heaters remained on until December 4, 2006, resulting in extremely high temperatures (above 130 °C), and in sensor rotation away from the correct orientation. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It has not been possible to fully diagnose and correct for the damage to the Voyager 2 magnetometer, although efforts to do so are ongoing. ^[8]

Information about ongoing telemetry exchanges with Voyager 2 is available from Voyager Weekly Reports. Information on the current location of Voyager 2 can be found at this Web site.

Voyager 2 in fiction and popular culture

This section contains specific references to Voyager 2. For other references to the Voyagers, see Voyager in fiction and popular culture in the Voyager program article. See also Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyager program consists of a pair of unmanned scientific probes Voyager 1 and

• "Voyager 2" is the title of a song by the band Virginia Coalition. It appeared on the "Ok To Go" Album.
• "Thinking Voyager 2 Type Things" is the title of a song by Bob Geldof, on the album "The Vegetarians of Love. "
• The motion picture Starman portrayed Voyager 2 as having been located by an alien intelligence who subsequently sent one of their own race to investigate intelligent life on Earth. John Carpenter's Starman is a 1984 Science fiction and Fantasy Film directed by John Carpenter which tells the story of
• In the episode "Parasites Lost" of the animated show Futurama, Leela scrubs the remains of Voyager 2 off the windshield of her spaceship while refueling at an interplanetary service station. "Parasites Lost" is the second episode in season three of Futurama. Futurama is an Emmy Award -winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Groening and Turanga Leela is a fictional main character in the animated television series Futurama and is voiced by Katey Sagal.
• The introduction movie for the computer game Battlezone II depicts Voyager 2 as a discreetly armed reconnaissance probe, and is subsequently destroyed by an anti-satellite missile after discovering a secret military base on the undiscovered Dark Planet. Battlezone II Combat Commander, often abriviated as BZII or BZ2 is a 1999 computer game released by Pandemic Studios as a sequel to Activision A spy satellite (officially referred to as a reconnaissance satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or Communications satellite deployed for Anti-satellite weapons (ASATs are Space weapons designed to destroy Satellites for strategic military purposes
• In the television series "Beast Wars" Megatron mentions that the Golden Disk (which was a major plot element of the second season) shown in the series was from the Voyager 2 (and even shows an animated Voyager 2 launching from earth). Beast Wars Transformers ( Beasties on YTV, due to YTV discomfort over the name is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro

See also

• Voyager program for more information about this spacecraft. See also Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyager program consists of a pair of unmanned scientific probes Voyager 1 and
• Voyager Golden Record
• Voyager 1
• Pioneer 10
• Pioneer 11

References

Footnotes

• Saturn Science Results. Voyager Science Results at Saturn. Retrieved on February 8, 2005.

• Uranus Science Results. Voyager Science Results at Uranus. Retrieved on February 8, 2005.

External links

• NASA Voyager website
• Voyager Spacecraft Lifetime
• Voyager 2 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• Voyager 2 (NSSDC Master Catalog)
• Spacecraft Escaping the Solar System - current positions and diagrams
• Mission state
• VOYAGER RECENT 6-HOUR HISTORY
• Voyager 2 Detects Odd Shape of Solar System's Edge 23 May 2006