Pioneer 10 launched 1972

Taking advantage of a rare alignment of the outer planets, NASA launched Pioneer 10 March 2, 1972.  NASA started preparing for the mission in 1964 and created two spacecraft, Pioneer F and Pioneer G.  Later they were renamed Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11.

On November 8, 1973, Pioneer 10 crossed the orbit of Sinope, an outer moon of Jupiter and made its closest approach to the planet December 3.  The electron radiation around Jupiter caused false commands to be made but many were corrected by contingency commands.  An image of Io and some close-up pictures of Jupiter were lost but the spacecraft obtained pictures of Ganymede and Europa.

On its way out of the solar system, Pioneer 10 crossed the orbit of Saturn in 1976, the orbit of Uranus in 1979, and the orbit of Neptune in 1983.  It is the first spacecraft to leave the solar system.

The mission officially ended March 31, 1997 but the Deep Space Network kept track of its signal until January 23, 2003 when Pioneer 10 sent its last signal.

Voyager 2 flies by Neptune 1989

Proteus

Launched in August 1977, Voyager 2 made a flyby of the planet Neptune August 25, 1989.  It is the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune and Uranus.  During its pass, it took photographs of Triton, Neptune's largest moon and discovered Proteus, the second largest moon.

Voyager 2 is expected  to enter interstellar space in 2019 or 2020.  It is still sending weak signals and will continue to do so until about 2025.

Triton discovered by William Lassell in 1846

The largest Neptunian moon Triton was discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846.  He had been studying Neptune which had been discovered the month before.  Lassell was trying to confirm Neptune had rings like Saturn but instead discovered the first of 13 moons.

In 1989, Voyager 2 passed by Triton and gave us the first glimpse of the strange new world.

Triton was the last solid object visited by the Voyager 2 spacecraft on its epic 10-year tour of the outer solar system. Voyager mapped only the hemisphere that faces Neptune, but revealed a very young surface scarred by rising blobs of ice (diapirs), faults, and volcanic pits and lava flows composed of water and other ices.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA12187

Voyager 2 launched 38 years ago!

The Energizer Bunny has noting on the Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched 38 years ago today.  Thanks to a serendipitous alignment of planets, Voyager 2 set out to visit the four giant outer planets of our solar system, something no probe has ever done.  With is mission complete in 1989, Voyager 2 is now far beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Now it will continue to collect data and beam it back to Earth for another five years when it will not be able to generate enough power to run its on-board instruments.

Its closest approach to Jupiter was July 9, 1979; Saturn on August 25, 1981; Uranus, January 24, 1986; and Neptune, August 25, 1989.

Besides an array of scientific equipment, Voyager 2 carries a 12-inch gold plated copper disc encased in a protective aluminum jacket.  It is to be played as a phonograph so there is a needle and a cartridge plus instructions because by the time Voyager 2 is discovered by aliens, like us, they will have forgotten how to play vinyl.  It is doubtful they will be able to locate a turn-table.

But, if they are successful, they can hear nature sounds like wind and thunder, whales, and music such as Bach, Beethoven and Berry (as in Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode).

Io

Voyager 2 observed volcanic eruptions on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons.  Its high-resolution images of Europa left scientists baffled at the lack of topological features.

Saturn with moons Tethys, Dion and Rhea

Both Voyager 1 and 2 discovered interesting aspects of Saturn’s rings that resembled spokes of a wheel.  However, Voyager 1 headed out of the solar system while Voyager 2 set course for Uranus and Neptune.

Uranus

Being the first and only to visit, Voyager 2 found 10 new moons around Uranus and revealed many unique features that should keep scientists busy for years to come.

           

High altitude clouds on Neptune

Neptune has a Great Dark Spot, similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, about the size of Earth.

Now Voyager 2 is sending back data on the heliopause, the outermost boundary of the solar wind.  May it continue to collect data long after it loses the ability to transmit it.

And then not get caught in a black hole and transported to the far side of the galaxy where it becomes the monstrous V-Ger and heads back to Earth to find its creator and eliminate all the carbon units only to be foiled by the USS Enterprise.