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NASA's Voyager Mission Turns 40

Accepted submission by takyon at 2017-08-20 16:33:55
Science

NASA's Voyager [wikipedia.org] mission was launched 40 years ago [space.com]:

NASA's historic Voyager mission has now been exploring the heavens for four decades.

The Voyager 2 spacecraft launched on Aug. 20, 1977, a few weeks before its twin, Voyager 1. Together, the two probes conducted an unprecedented "Grand Tour" of the outer solar system, beaming home up-close looks at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and many of the moons of these giant planets.

This work revealed a jaw-dropping diversity of worlds, fundamentally reshaping scientists' understanding of the solar system. And then the Voyagers kept on flying. In August 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft ever to reach interstellar space — and Voyager 2 is expected to arrive in this exotic realm soon as well.

The rest of the article is a Q&A with Voyager project scientist and former director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Ed Stone [wikipedia.org].

Also at BBC [bbc.com] and NBC [nbcnews.com]. Image gallery at Ars Technica [arstechnica.com]. A PBS special [pbs.org] about the mission will air on August 23.

No missions have been sent to Uranus or Neptune [soylentnews.org] since Voyager 2 visited them in 1986 and 1989.

Related: Pioneer and Voyager Maps to Earth: How Much of a Mistake? [soylentnews.org]
Voyager's 'Cosmic Map' Of Earth's Location Is Hopelessly Wrong [soylentnews.org]


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