The craft — one of twin spacecraft (Voyager I & II) sent to explore distant planets — is approaching interstellar space. The primary mission for these satellites was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. After making a string of discoveries there -- such as active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io and intricacies of Saturn's rings -- the mission was extended. Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, and is still the only spacecraft to have visited those outer planets. The adventurers' current mission, the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM), will explore the outermost edge of the Sun's domain. And beyond. Interstellar Mission searches for the heliopause — the border between the magnetic influence of the sun and the beginning of interstellar space — and exits the solar system.
Below is an image of Voyager I
Below is the image of Voyagers and other satellites nearing Heliopause
Voyager 1 is poised to cross into interstellar space. Both Voyager 1 and 2 are expected to continue to provide critical data for another decade, if not longer — or at least until their energy supplies can no longer power critical subsystems. The mission objective of the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) is to extend the NASA exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun's sphere of influence, and possibly beyond. This extended mission is continuing to characterize the outer solar system environment and search for the heliopause boundary, the outer limits of the Sun's magnetic field and outward flow of the solar wind. Penetration of the heliopause boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar medium will allow measurements to be made of the interstellar fields, particles and waves unaffected by the solar wind.
The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft continue exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before. In the 34th year after their 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the Sun than Pluto. Voyager 1 and 2 are now in the "Heliosheath" - the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas. Both spacecraft are still sending scientific information about their surroundings through the Deep Space Network (DSN)
This artist’s rendering provided by NASA is of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which was launched 35 years ago Wednesday. (Its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2, was launched Aug. 20, 1977.) Cameras aboard the Voyagers were turned off long ago. The nuclear-powered spacecraft, about the size of a subcompact car, still have five instruments to study magnetic fields, cosmic rays and charged particles from the sun known as solar wind. They also carry gold-plated discs containing multilingual greetings, music and pictures — in the off chance that intelligent species come across them.
| 1977 |
Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977 is renamed Voyager |
| 1977 Aug.20 |
Voyager 2 launched from Kennedy Space Flight Center |
| 1977 Sept.5 |
Voyager 1 launched from Kennedy Space Flight Center
Voyager 1 returns first spacecraft photo of Earth and Moon |
| 1979 Mar.5 |
Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter |
| 1979 July.9 |
Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Jupiter |
| 1980 Nov.12 |
Voyager 1 flies by Saturn
Voyager 1 begins its trip out of the Solar System |
| 1981 Aug.25 |
Voyager 2 flies by Saturn |
| 1982 |
Deep Space Network upgrades two 26-m antennas to 34-m |
| 1986 Jan.24 |
Voyager 2 has the first-ever encounter with Uranus
Deep Space Network begins expansion of 64-m antennas to 70-m |
| 1987 |
Voyager 2 "observes" Supernova 1987A |
| 1988 |
Voyager 2 returns first color images of Neptune |
| 1989 Aug.25 |
Voyager 2 is the first spacecraft to observe Neptune
Voyager 2 begins its trip out of the Solar System, below the ecliptic plane |
| 1990 Jan.1 |
Begins Voyager Interstellar Mission |
| 1990 Feb.14 |
Last Voyager Images - Portrait of the Solar System |
| 1998 Feb.17 |
Voyager 1 passes Pioneer 10 to become the most distant human-made object in space |
| 2004 Dec.15 |
Voyager 1 crosses Termination Shock |
| 2007 Sep.5 |
Voyager 2 crosses Termination Shock |
| 2012 Sep.9 |
Voyager enters Interstellar Space |
Courtesy: Washington Post, Voyager NASA website
