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First to visit all four giant planets

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Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune. The probe is now in interstellar space, the region outside the heliopause, or the bubble of energetic particles and magnetic fields from the Sun.

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What is Voyager 2?

NASA's Voyager 2 is the second spacecraft to enter interstellar space. On Dec. 10, 2018, the spacecraft joined its twin – Voyager 1 – as the only human-made objects to enter the space between the stars.

  • Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to study all four of the solar system's giant planets at close range.
  • Voyager 2 discovered a 14th moon at Jupiter.
  • Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly past Uranus.
  • At Uranus, Voyager 2 discovered 10 new moons and two new rings.
  • Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly by Neptune.
  • At Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered five moons, four rings, and a "Great Dark Spot."

In Depth: Voyager 2

The two-spacecraft Voyager missions were designed to replace original plans for a “Grand Tour” of the planets that would have used four highly complex spacecraft to explore the five outer planets during the late 1970s.

NASA canceled the plan in January 1972 largely due to anticipated costs (projected at $1 billion) and instead proposed to launch only two spacecraft in 1977 to Jupiter and Saturn. The two spacecraft were designed to explore the two gas giants in more detail than the two Pioneers (Pioneers 10 and 11) that preceded them.

In 1974, mission planners proposed a mission in which, if the first Voyager was successful, the second one could be redirected to Uranus and then Neptune using gravity assist maneuvers.

Each of the two spacecraft was equipped with a slow-scan color TV camera to take images of the planets and their moons and each also carried an extensive suite of instruments to record magnetic, atmospheric, lunar, and other data about the planetary systems.

The design of the two spacecraft was based on the older Mariners, and they were known as Mariner 11 and Mariner 12 until March 7, 1977, when NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher (1919-1991) announced that they would be renamed Voyager.

Power was provided by three plutonium oxide radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) mounted at the end of a boom.

Voyager 2 at Jupiter

Against a black background, an enormous sphere in various shades of orange fills most of the frame and extends beyond the picture, to the left, top, and bottom. Ribbons of different shades of orange and white circle the planet horizontally, some looking like they were folded ver on themselves repeatedly, like hard ribbon candy. The most prominent featue is a large swirl of deep orange at the center of the frame, looking like it's spinning clockwise.

Voyager 2 began transmitting images of Jupiter April 24, 1979, for time-lapse movies of atmospheric circulation. Unlike Voyager 1, Voyager 2 made close passes to the Jovian moons on its way into the system, with scientists especially interested in more information from Europa and Io (which necessitated a 10 hour-long “volcano watch”).

During its encounter, it relayed back spectacular photos of the entire Jovian system, including its moons Callisto, Ganymede, Europa (at a range of about 127,830 miles or 205,720 kilometers, much closer than Voyager 1), Io, and Amalthea, all of which had already been surveyed by Voyager 1.

Voyager 2’s closest encounter to Jupiter was at 22:29 UT July 9, 1979, at a range of about 400,785 miles (645,000 kilometers). It transmitted new data on the planet’s clouds, its newly discovered four moons, and ring system as well as 17,000 new pictures.

When the earlier Pioneers flew by Jupiter, they detected few atmospheric changes from one encounter to the second, but Voyager 2 detected many significant changes, including a drift in the Great Red Spot as well as changes in its shape and color.

With the combined cameras of the two Voyagers, at least 80% of the surfaces of Ganymede and Callisto were mapped out to a resolution of about 3 miles (5 kilometers).

Voyager 2 at Saturn

A serene Saturn, encircled by its complex ring system.

Following a course correction two hours after its closest approach to Jupiter, Voyager 2 sped to Saturn, its trajectory determined to a large degree by a decision made in January 1981, to try to send the spacecraft to Uranus and Neptune later in the decade.

Its encounter with the sixth planet began Aug. 22, 1981, two years after leaving the Jovian system, with imaging of the moon Iapetus. Once again, Voyager 2 repeated the photographic mission of its predecessor, although it actually flew about 14,290 miles (23,000 kilometers) closer to Saturn. The closest encounter to Saturn was at 01:21 UT Aug. 26, 1981, at a range of about 63,000 miles (101,000 kilometers).

The spacecraft provided more detailed images of the ring “spokes” and kinks, and also the F-ring and its shepherding moons, all found by Voyager 1. Voyager 2’s data suggested that Saturn’s A-ring was perhaps only about 980 feet (300 meters) thick.

As it flew behind and up past Saturn, the probe passed through the plane of Saturn’s rings at a speed of 8 miles per second (13 kilometers per second). For several minutes during this phase, the spacecraft was hit by thousands of micron-sized dust grains that created “puff” plasma as they were vaporized. Because the vehicle’s attitude was repeatedly shifted by the particles, attitude control jets automatically fired many times to stabilize the vehicle.

During the encounter, Voyager 2 also photographed the Saturn moons Hyperion (the “hamburger moon”), Enceladus, Tethys, and Phoebe as well as the more recently discovered Helene, Telesto and Calypso.

Voyager 2 at Uranus

Ariel - Highest Resolution Color Picture

Although Voyager 2 had fulfilled its primary mission goals with the two planetary encounters, mission planners directed the veteran spacecraft to Uranus—a journey that would take about 4.5 years.

In fact, its encounter with Jupiter was optimized in part to ensure that future planetary flybys would be possible.

The Uranus encounter’s geometry was also defined by the possibility of a future encounter with Neptune: Voyager 2 had only 5.5 hours of close study during its flyby.

Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly past the planet Uranus.

Long-range observations of the planet began Nov. 4, 1985, when signals took approximately 2.5 hours to reach Earth. Light conditions were 400 times less than terrestrial conditions. Closest approach to Uranus took place at 17:59 UT Jan. 24, 1986, at a range of about 50,640 miles (81,500 kilometers).

During its flyby, Voyager 2 discovered 10 new moons (given such names as Puck, Portia, Juliet, Cressida, Rosalind, Belinda, Desdemona, Cordelia, Ophelia, and Bianca -- obvious allusions to Shakespeare), two new rings in addition to the “older” nine rings, and a magnetic field tilted at 55 degrees off-axis and off-center.

The spacecraft found wind speeds in Uranus’ atmosphere as high as 450 miles per hour (724 kilometers per hour) and found evidence of a boiling ocean of water some 497 miles (800 kilometers) below the top cloud surface. Its rings were found to be extremely variable in thickness and opacity.

Voyager 2 also returned spectacular photos of Miranda, Oberon, Ariel, Umbriel, and Titania, five of Uranus’ larger moons. In flying by Miranda at a range of only 17,560 miles (28,260 kilometers), the spacecraft came closest to any object so far in its nearly decade-long travels. Images of the moon showed a strange object whose surface was a mishmash of peculiar features that seemed to have no rhyme or reason. Uranus itself appeared generally featureless.

The spectacular news of the Uranus encounter was interrupted the same week by the tragic Challenger accident that killed seven astronauts during their space shuttle launch Jan. 28, 1986.

Voyager 2 at Neptune

Neptune Full Disk View

Following the Uranus encounter, the spacecraft performed a single midcourse correction Feb. 14, 1986—the largest ever made by Voyager 2—to set it on a precise course to Neptune.

Voyager 2’s encounter with Neptune capped a 4.3 billion-mile (7 billion-kilometer) journey when, on Aug. 25, 1989, at 03:56 UT, it flew about 2,980 miles (4,800 kilometers) over the cloud tops of the giant planet, the closest of its four flybys. It was the first human-made object to fly by the planet. Its 10 instruments were still in working order at the time.

During the encounter, the spacecraft discovered six new moons (Proteus, Larissa, Despina, Galatea, Thalassa, and Naiad) and four new rings.

The planet itself was found to be more active than previously believed, with 680-mile (1,100-kilometer) per hour winds. Hydrogen was found to be the most common atmospheric element, although the abundant methane gave the planet its blue appearance.

Images revealed details of the three major features in the planetary clouds—the Lesser Dark Spot, the Great Dark Spot, and Scooter.

Voyager photographed two-thirds of Neptune’s largest moon Triton, revealing the coldest known planetary body in the solar system and a nitrogen ice “volcano” on its surface. Spectacular images of its southern hemisphere showed a strange, pitted cantaloupe-type terrain.

The flyby of Neptune concluded Voyager 2’s planetary encounters, which spanned an amazing 12 years in deep space, virtually accomplishing the originally planned “Grand Tour” of the solar system, at least in terms of targets reached if not in science accomplished.

Voyager 2's Interstellar Mission

Once past the Neptune system, Voyager 2 followed a course below the ecliptic plane and out of the solar system. Approximately 35 million miles (56 million kilometers) past the encounter, Voyager 2’s instruments were put in low power mode to conserve energy.

After the Neptune encounter, NASA formally renamed the entire project the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM).

Of the four spacecraft sent out to beyond the environs of the solar system in the 1970s, three of them -- Voyagers 1 and 2 and Pioneer 11 -- were all heading in the direction of the solar apex, i.e., the apparent direction of the Sun’s travel in the Milky Way galaxy, and thus would be expected to reach the heliopause earlier than Pioneer 10 which was headed in the direction of the heliospheric tail.

In November 1998, 21 years after launch, nonessential instruments were permanently turned off, leaving seven instruments still operating.

At 9.6 miles per second (15.4 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun, it will take about 19,390 years for Voyager 2 to traverse a single light year.

Asif Siddiqi

Asif Siddiqi

Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration

Through the turn of the century, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) continued to receive ultraviolet and particle fields data. For example, on Jan. 12, 2001, an immense shock wave that had blasted out of the outer heliosphere on July 14, 2000, finally reached Voyager 2. During its six-month journey, the shock wave had plowed through the solar wind, sweeping up and accelerating charged particles. The spacecraft provided important information on high-energy shock-energized ions.

On Aug. 30, 2007, Voyager 2 passed the termination shock and then entered the heliosheath. By Nov. 5, 2017, the spacecraft was 116.167 AU (about 10.8 billion miles or about 17.378 billion kilometers) from Earth, moving at a velocity of 9.6 miles per second (15.4 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun, heading in the direction of the constellation Telescopium. At this velocity, it would take about 19,390 years to traverse a single light-year.

On July 8, 2019, Voyager 2 successfully fired up its trajectory correction maneuver thrusters and will be using them to control the pointing of the spacecraft for the foreseeable future. Voyager 2 last used those thrusters during its encounter with Neptune in 1989.

The spacecraft's aging attitude control thrusters have been experiencing degradation that required them to fire an increasing and untenable number of pulses to keep the spacecraft's antenna pointed at Earth. Voyager 1 had switched to its trajectory correction maneuver thrusters for the same reason in January 2018.

To ensure that both vintage robots continue to return the best scientific data possible from the frontiers of space, mission engineers are implementing a new plan to manage them. The plan involves making difficult choices, particularly about instruments and thrusters.

The Voyager spacecraft against a sparkly blue background

National Space Science Data Center: Voyager 2

A library of technical details and historic perspective.

Colorful book cover for Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration. It features spacecraft cutouts against a bright primary colors.

A comprehensive history of missions sent to explore beyond Earth.

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Voyager 2: the story of its mission so far – in pictures

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Since launching in 1977 , the Nasa probe has captured never-before-seen images of the solar system

  • Nasa’s Voyager 2 sends back its first message from interstellar space

Mon 4 Nov 2019 17.10 GMT Last modified on Mon 4 Nov 2019 23.12 GMT

Photograph: JPL-Caltech/Nasa

An illustration from 1965 shows the calculated trajectories of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

Photograph: Nasa

In 1973, the mission had been named Mariner Jupiter-Saturn 1977 and was intended to go only as far as Jupiter and Saturn, as seen in the old mission logo

Photograph: JPL/Nasa

The Voyagers carry aa phonograph record, a 12in gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth

Photograph: JPL-Caltech/NASA

Voyager 2 seen in its payload fairing in August 1977

Photograph: JPL/NASA

This picture of Neptune was produced from the last whole planet images taken through the green and orange filters on Voyager 2’s narrow-angle camera

Photograph: Corbis/Getty Images

Voyager 2 scientists Carl Sagan (top C, in blue shirt and glasses) and Ed Stone (lower R) look at images captured of Neptune’s moon Triton

Photograph: Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis Getty Images

The mission control room near Pasadena, California

Photograph: Nasa Photo/Alamy

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator, Matthew Shindell (far L), moderates a discussion with (seated, L-R) the Nasa Voyager project scientist, Ed Stone; the mission grand tour creator, Gary Flandro; researcher Alan Cummings; project manager Suzy Dodd, and the golden record producer, Ann Druyan

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Voyager 2 bounces back from glitch in interstellar space

The venerable NASA spacecraft is gathering science data again.

An artist's depiction of one of the twin Voyager spacecraft exploring interstellar space.

Voyager 2 is taking the measure of its exotic surroundings once again.

On Jan. 25, the venerable probe, which has been exploring interstellar space since November 2018, failed to execute a spin maneuver as intended. As a result, two onboard systems remained on longer than planned, sucking up so much energy that Voyager 2 automatically shut off its science instruments .

Mission team members expressed confidence at the time that they could troubleshoot the problem, and their confidence has been borne out: Voyager 2's science gear is back up and running, NASA announced Wednesday (Feb. 5).

Related: Photos from NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 probes  

"Mission operators report that Voyager 2 continues to be stable and that communications between Earth and the spacecraft are good," agency officials wrote in a mission update yesterday . "The spacecraft has resumed taking science data, and the science teams are now evaluating the health of the instruments following their brief shut-off."

Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, launched a few weeks apart in 1977 to perform an unprecedented "grand tour" of the outer solar system. Both spacecraft conducted flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, revealing a great deal about the solar system's two biggest planets. Voyager 2 then zoomed past Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989; the probe remains the only craft to have gotten up-close looks at either of these "ice giants."

And both Voyagers just kept on flying, entering extended interstellar missions. Voyager 1 popped free into interstellar space in August 2012, and its twin followed suit six years later. 

The two spacecraft are still going strong after more than 42 years in space, but they can't keep up their pioneering work forever. The radioisotope thermoelectric generators that power the Voyagers are running low on juice and will likely be tapped out by the mid-2020s, NASA officials have said.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are currently about 13.8 billion miles (22.2 billion kilometers) and 11.5 billion miles (13.5 billion km) from Earth, respectively. It takes more than 17 hours for light to travel from Earth to Voyager 2, meaning that mission team members have to wait a day and a half to see if their commands work.

  • Voyager at 40: 40 photos from NASA's epic 'grand tour' mission  
  • What spacecraft will enter interstellar space next?  
  • Voyager 2 went interstellar the same day a probe touched the sun

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . 

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Mike Wall

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with  Space.com  and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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Admin said: Voyager 2 is taking science data again after a glitch knocked the probe offline in late January. Voyager 2 bounces back from glitch in interstellar space : Read more
  • David Slu Interesting article, but 11.5 billion miles doesn't equal 13.5 billion km Reply
  • Dwight Huth NASA should send software updates to Voyager II that would include the newest Machine Learning algorithms. Reply
rod said: "The two spacecraft are still going strong after more than 42 years in space, but they can't keep up their pioneering work forever. The radioisotope thermoelectric generators that power the Voyagers are running low on juice and will likely be tapped out by the mid-2020s, NASA officials have said. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are currently about 13.8 billion miles (22.2 billion kilometers) and 11.5 billion miles (13.5 billion km) from Earth, respectively. It takes more than 17 hours for light to travel from Earth to Voyager 2, meaning that mission team members have to wait a day and a half to see if their commands work." Nice going Voyager 2, no solar powered space probe here :)
Dwight Huth said: NASA should send software updates to Voyager II that would include the newest Machine Learning algorithms.
  • View All 6 Comments

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Voyager 2

An illustration shows the position of NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes outside of the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto.

Interstellar space even weirder than expected, NASA probe reveals

The spacecraft is just the second ever to venture beyond the boundary that separates us from the rest of the galaxy.

In the blackness of space billions of miles from home, NASA’s Voyager 2 marked a milestone of exploration, becoming just the second spacecraft ever to enter interstellar space in November 2018. Now, a day before the anniversary of that celestial exit, scientists have revealed what Voyager 2 saw as it crossed the threshold—and it’s giving humans new insight into some of the big mysteries of our solar system.

The findings, spread across five studies published today in Nature Astronomy , mark the first time that a spacecraft has directly sampled the electrically charged hazes, or plasmas, that fill both interstellar space and the solar system’s farthest outskirts. It’s another first for the spacecraft, which was launched in 1977 and performed the first—and only—flybys of the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune. ( Find out more about the Voyager probes’ “grand tour”—and why it almost didn’t happen .)

See pictures from Voyager 2's solar system tour

Jupiter

Voyager 2’s charge into interstellar space follows that of sibling Voyager 1, which accomplished the same feat in 2012. The two spacecrafts’ data have many features in common, such as the overall density of the particles they’ve encountered in interstellar space. But intriguingly, the twin craft also saw some key differences on their way out—raising new questions about our sun’s movement through the galaxy.

“This has really been a wonderful journey,” Voyager project scientist Ed Stone , a physicist at Caltech, said in a press briefing last week.

“It’s just really exciting that humankind is interstellar,” adds physicist Jamie Rankin , a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University who wasn’t involved with the studies. “We have been interstellar travelers since Voyager 1 crossed, but now, Voyager 2’s cross is even more exciting, because we can now compare two very different locations ... in the interstellar medium.”

Inside the bubble

To make sense of Voyager 2’s latest findings, it helps to know that the sun isn’t a quietly burning ball of light. Our star is a raging nuclear furnace hurtling through the galaxy at about 450,000 miles an hour as it orbits the galactic center.

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The sun is also rent through with twisted, braided magnetic fields and, as a result, its surface constantly throws off a breeze of electrically charged particles called the solar wind. This gust rushes out in all directions, carrying the sun’s magnetic field with it. Eventually, the solar wind smashes into the interstellar medium, the debris from ancient stellar explosions that lurks in the spaces between stars.

Like oil and water, the solar wind and the interstellar medium don’t perfectly mix, so the solar wind forms a bubble within the interstellar medium called the heliosphere. Based on Voyager data, this bubble extends about 11 billion miles from the sun at its leading edge, surrounding the sun, all eight planets, and much of the outer objects orbiting our star. Good thing, too: The protective heliosphere shields everything inside it, including our fragile DNA, from most of the galaxy’s highest-energy radiation.

The heliosphere’s outermost edge, called the heliopause, marks the start of interstellar space. Understanding this threshold has implications for our picture of the sun’s journey through the galaxy, which in turn can tell us more about the situations of other stars scattered across the cosmos.

“We are trying to understand the nature of that boundary, where these two winds collide and mix,” Stone said during the briefing. “How do they mix, and how much spillage is there from inside to outside the bubble, and from outside the bubble to inside?”

Scientists got their first good look at the heliopause on August 25, 2012, when Voyager 1 first entered interstellar space. What they began to see left them scratching their heads. For instance, researchers now know that the interstellar magnetic field is about two to three times stronger than expected, which means, in turn, that interstellar particles exert up to ten times as much pressure on our heliosphere than previously thought.

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“It is our first platform to actually experience the interstellar medium, so it is quite literally a pathfinder for us,” says heliophysicist Patrick Koehn , a program scientist at NASA headquarters.

Leaky boundary

But for all that Voyager 1 upended expectations, its revelations were incomplete. Back in 1980, its instrument that measured the temperature of plasmas stopped working. Voyager 2’s plasma instrument is still working just fine, though, so when it crossed the heliopause on November 5, 2018, scientists could get a much better look at this border.

For the first time, researchers could see that as an object gets within 140 million miles of the heliopause, the plasma surrounding it slows, heats up, and gets more dense. And on the other side of the boundary, the interstellar medium is at least 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than expected. However, this plasma is so thin and diffuse, the average temperature around the Voyager probes remains extremely cold.

In addition, Voyager 2 confirmed that the heliopause is one leaky border—and the leaks go both ways. Before Voyager 1 passed through the heliopause, it zoomed through tendrils of interstellar particles that had punched into the heliopause like tree roots through rock. Voyager 2, however, saw a trickle of low-energy particles that extended more than a hundred million miles beyond the heliopause.

Another mystery appeared as Voyager 1 came within 800 million miles of the heliopause, where it entered a limbo-like area in which the outbound solar wind slowed to a crawl. Before it crossed the heliopause, Voyager 2 saw the solar wind form an altogether different kind of layer that, oddly, was nearly the same width as the stagnant one seen by Voyager 1.

“That is very, very weird,” Koehn says. “It really shows us that we need more data.”

Interstellar sequel?

Solving these puzzles will require a better view of the heliosphere as a whole. Voyager 1 exited near the heliosphere’s leading edge, where it collides with the interstellar medium, and Voyager 2 exited along its left flank. We have no data on the heliosphere’s wake, so its overall shape remains a mystery. The interstellar medium’s pressure might keep the heliosphere roughly spherical, but it’s also possible that it has a tail like a comet—or that it is shaped like a croissant .

But while other spacecraft are currently outward bound, they won’t be able to return data from the heliopause. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is zooming out of the solar system at more than 31,000 miles an hour , and when it runs out of power in the 2030s, it’ll fall silent more than a billion miles short of the heliosphere’s outer edge. That’s why Voyager scientists and others are calling for a follow-up interstellar probe . The goal: a 50-year, multi-generation mission that explores the outer solar system on its way into unexplored regions beyond the solar wind.

“Here's an entire bubble, [and] we only crossed it with two points,” study coauthor Stamatios Krimigis , the emeritus head of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory's space department, said at the briefing. “Two examples are not enough.”

A new generation of scientists is eager to run with the baton—including Rankin, who did her Ph.D. at Caltech with Voyager 1’s interstellar data with Stone as her adviser.

“It was amazing to work on this cutting-edge data from spacecraft that were launched before I was born and still doing amazing science,” she says. “I’m just really thankful for all the people who have spent so much time on Voyager.”

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NASA's Voyager probes have been traveling through space for nearly 46 years. Here are 18 groundbreaking photos from their incredible mission.

  • Nearly 46 years after their launch, Voyager 1 and 2 will likely soon reach the end of their scientific mission . 
  • NASA recently lost contact with Voyager 2 after sending it a bad command by mistake. 
  • Here are 18 pictures the probes took over the course of their forty-plus-year journey. 

Insider Today

The Voyager probes are pioneers of science, making it farther into space than any other manufactured object. But now, they face a terminal problem: their power is running out.

The twin probes were originally sent on a four-year mission to tour the solar system, but they exceeded all expectations and are still going nearly 46 years later. That makes them NASA's longest-lived mission.

Scientists are now doing their best to  keep the probes going for as long as possible. They recently found a clever hack to extend Voyager 2's life for another three years and plan to do the same with Voyager 1.

But these are old machines and NASA is constantly scrambling to fix mistakes. Last year, Voyager 1 started sending garbled data from the outside of the solar system. NASA ultimately figured out one of its computers had gone dead.

Voyager 2 is now in limbo , as the agency revealed Friday it had lost contact with the probe when someone sent a wrong command. It could be the end of Voyager 2's mission if NASA can't fix the mistake, which the agency probably won't be able to do before October.

As the probes are nearing the end of their scientific mission, here are 18 images from Voyager that changed science.

The Voyager probes were designed to visit Jupiter and Saturn.

voyager 2 latest photos

The Voyager mission included two probes — Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 — which NASA launched in 1977 within a few months of each other.

NASA took advantage of a rare planet alignment to turbocharge their journeys into space.

NASA originally built the probes to last five years, but they have exceeded that lifespan many times .

As of August 20 and September 5, 2023, Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 will have been traveling for 46 years, respectively. 

This is what Voyager 1 saw on its approach to Jupiter.

voyager 2 latest photos

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in 1979.

As they flew by the planet, they took about 50,000 pictures of Jupiter. These blew away scientists, as the quality of the pictures was much better than those taken from Earth, according to NASA.

These snaps  taught scientists important facts about the planet's atmosphere, magnetic forces, and geology that would have been difficult to decipher otherwise.

The probes discovered two new moons orbiting Jupiter: Thebe and Metis.

voyager 2 latest photos

They also spotted a thin ring around Jupiter.

voyager 2 latest photos

The probe captured this picture as it was looking back at the planet backlit by the Sun. 

Voyager 1 discovered volcanoes at the surface of Io, one of Jupiter's moons.

voyager 2 latest photos

Next stop: Saturn.

voyager 2 latest photos

In 1980 and 1981, the probes reached Saturn . The flyby gave scientists unprecedented insight into the planet's ring structure, atmosphere, and moons.

Voyager snapped Saturn's rings in more detail than ever before.

voyager 2 latest photos

And showed every secret that Enceladus, Saturn's moon, had to offer.

voyager 2 latest photos

Saturn, snapped as the probe flew away, was shown in a new light.

voyager 2 latest photos

By 1986, Voyager 2 had made it to Uranus.

voyager 2 latest photos

By 1986, Voyager 1 has finished its grand tour of the solar system, and few out towards space. But Voyager 2 kept on its exploring our nearest planets, passing 50,600 miles away from Uranus in January 1986. 

Voyager 2 discovered two extra rings around Uranus , revealing the planet had at least 11, not 9. 

Voyager 2 also spotted 11 previously unseen moons around Uranus.

voyager 2 latest photos

Here is a picture of Miranda, Uranus's sixth-biggest moon.

Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to observe Neptune from a close distance.

voyager 2 latest photos

In 1989, 12 years after its launch, Voyager 2 passed within 3,000 miles of Neptune. 

Here's Nepture taken by Voyager 2, in all its blue glory.

voyager 2 latest photos

Voyager 2 took this unflattering pic of Triton's rough face.

voyager 2 latest photos

It captured Triton, Neptune's moon in unprecedented detail. 

And snapped Triton's southern hemisphere.

voyager 2 latest photos

As it flew by, Voyager 2 uncovered Neptune's rings.

voyager 2 latest photos

As its parting gift, Voyager 2 took this beautiful picture of light grazing Neptune's south pole.

voyager 2 latest photos

This is Voyager 2's last picture. Since it wouldn't come across another planet on its ongoing journey, NASA switched off its cameras after its flyby of Neptune to conserve energy for other instruments. 

Voyager 1 had one last trick up its sleeve.

voyager 2 latest photos

As its last photographic hurrah in 1990, Voyager 1 took 60 images of the solar system from 4 billion miles away.

It gave us the Earth's longest selfie, dubbed the "pale blue dot."

voyager 2 latest photos

This remains the longest-range selfie: a portrait of the Earth taken by a human-made probe from 4 billion miles away. 

After this picture, NASA switched off Voyager 1's cameras to save energy. NASA could switch the probes' cameras back on , but it is not a priority for the mission. 

Beyond the solar system

voyager 2 latest photos

Though the probes are no longer sending pictures, they haven't stopped sending crucial information about space. 

In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made instrument to cross into interstellar space by crossing the boundary between our solar system and the rest of the universe, called the heliopause. 

Voyager 2 was second, crossing that threshold in 2018 . The probe revealed that there was yet another  layer outside of our heliosphere.

The probes keep sending back measurements from interstellar space, like weird hums likely coming from vibrations made by neighboring stars.

Even after their instruments are switched off, the probes' mission continues.

voyager 2 latest photos

NASA is planning to switch more of the probes' instruments in the hope of extending their life to the 2030s.

But even after all their instruments become quiet, their mission will carry on. As they drift off, they will still be carrying a golden record that carries crucial information about humanity. If intelligent extraterrestrial life exists, they could use that information to reach out to us.

This article was originally published on June 6, 2022, and is being updated with the latest developments about Voyager 1 and 2. 

voyager 2 latest photos

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Voyager 2 Color Image of Enceladus, Almost Full Disk

voyager 2 latest photos

This color Voyager 2 image mosaic shows the water-ice-covered surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's icy moons. Enceladus' diameter of just 500 km would fit across the state of Arizona, yet despite its small size Enceladus exhibits one of the most interesting surfaces of all the icy satellites. Enceladus reflects about 90% of the incident sunlight (about like fresh-fallen snow), placing it among the most reflective objects in the Solar System. Several geologic terrains have superposed crater densities that span a factor of at least 500, thereby indicating huge differences in the ages of these terrains. It is possible that the high reflectivity of Enceladus' surface results from continuous deposition of icy particles from Saturn's E-ring, which in fact may originate from icy volcanoes on Enceladus' surface. Some terrains are dominated by sinuous mountain ridges from 1 to 2 km high (3300 to 6600 feet), whereas other terrains are scarred by linear cracks, some of which show evidence for possible sideways fault motion such as that of California's infamous San Andreas fault. Some terrains appear to have formed by separation of icy plates along cracks, and other terrains are exceedingly smooth at the resolution of this image. The implication carried by Enceladus' surface is that this tiny ice ball has been geologically active and perhaps partially liquid in its interior for much of its history. The heat engine that powers geologic activity here is thought to be elastic deformation caused by tides induced by Enceladus' orbital motion around Saturn and the motion of another moon, Dione.

Keep Exploring

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See the 10 Best Photos Taken by Voyager 2

This special color composite made from Voyager 2 narrow-angle frames taken on June 28, 1979, has been processed to exaggerate color differences within the naturally colorful Jovian atmosphere.

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Historic space photo of the week: Voyager 2 spies a storm on Saturn 42 years ago

With the ringed planet currently perfectly positioned for observation with a small telescope, relive Voyager 2's landmark 1981 visit.

Voyager 2 took this image of Saturn on Aug. 11, 1981, when the spacecraft was 9.1 million miles from Earth.

What it is: Saturn, the seventh planet from the sun, as seen by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft

When it was taken: Aug. 11, 1981

Where it is: 886 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) from the sun — 9.5 times the Earth-sun distance

Why it's so special: Taken 42 years ago this month, this false-color image from NASA's Voyager 2 probe shows the convective clouds and storms in Saturn's northern hemisphere. Visible on the right side of the image are the moons Dione and Enceladus, the latter of which recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show is spraying huge plumes of watery vapor far into space.

The image was taken 9 million miles (15 million km) from Earth, just as Voyager 2 approached the ringed planet, using the spacecraft's VG ISS Narrow Angle instrument. The false-color image was assembled from ultraviolet, violet and green images with filters used to make them visible to the human eye. If you look beneath the yellow band of clouds (which, in reality, would be white), you'll see a green spot (which is actually brown) that represents a storm. Voyager 2 measured winds blowing at Saturn's equator at a whopping 1,100 mph (1,770 km/h).

Voyager 2 wasn't the first probe to image Saturn. That distinction goes to Pioneer 11, one of NASA's first solar system probes, which launched in 1973 on a mission to study Jupiter, Saturn and the asteroid belt as a pathfinder for the Voyager missions.

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Nor was Voyager 2 the first of the two Voyager probes to photograph the ringed planet. Its twin, Voyager 1, reached Saturn in November 1980, while Voyager 2 visited nine months later, making its closest approach on Aug. 26, 1981. However, because Voyager 2 had more sensitive cameras, it was able to detect a lot more features in Saturn's turbulent atmosphere, according to NASA .

How to see it in the night sky: Now is the perfect time to see Saturn, but to get any sense of its rings, you'll need a good telescope . The ringed planet is currently at its biggest, brightest and best for the year, having reached opposition (when Earth is between it and the sun) on Aug. 27. Saturn is currently in the constellation Aquarius and rising in the east at dusk.

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Jamie Carter is a freelance journalist and regular Live Science contributor based in Cardiff, U.K. He is the author of A Stargazing Program For Beginners and lectures on astronomy and the natural world. Jamie regularly writes for Space.com, TechRadar.com, Forbes Science, BBC Wildlife magazine and Scientific American, and many others. He edits WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com .

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  • Wil Nusser "The image was taken 9 million miles (15 million km) from Earth " Ummmm, no. It was about 9 million miles from SATURN. It was closer to 9 HUNDRED million miles from Earth at the time. I know that many people's eyes glaze over at big numbers, but being off by around 99%? Two orders of magnitude? I expect better from self-proclaimed science communicators... Reply
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30 years ago: voyager 2’s historic neptune flyby.

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Getting there, being there.

Neptune

Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system’s eighth planet. Marking the end of the Voyager mission’s Grand Tour of the solar system’s four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — that first was also a last: No other spacecraft has visited Neptune since.

“The Voyager planetary program really was an opportunity to show the public what science is all about,” said Ed Stone, a professor of physics at Caltech and Voyager’s project scientist since 1975. “Every day we learned something new.”

Wrapped in teal- and cobalt-colored bands of clouds, the planet that Voyager 2 revealed looked like a blue-hued sibling to Jupiter and Saturn, the blue indicating the presence of methane. A massive, slate-colored storm was dubbed the “Great Dark Spot,” similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Six new moons and four rings were discovered.

During the encounter, the engineering team carefully changed the probe’s direction and speed so that it could do a close flyby of the planet’s largest moon, Triton. The flyby showed evidence of geologically young surfaces and active geysers spewing material skyward. This indicated that Triton was not simply a solid ball of ice, even though it had the lowest surface temperature of any natural body observed by Voyager: minus 391 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 235 degrees Celsius).

 Global color mosaic shows Neptune's largest moon, Triton

The conclusion of the Neptune flyby marked the beginning of the Voyager Interstellar Mission, which continues today, 42 years after launch. Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1 (which had also flown by Jupiter and Saturn), continue to send back dispatches from the outer reaches of our solar system. At the time of the Neptune encounter, Voyager 2 was about 2.9 billion miles (4.7 billion kilometers) from Earth; today it is 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from us. The faster-moving Voyager 1 is 13 billion miles (21 billion kilometers) from Earth.   

By the time Voyager 2 reached Neptune, the Voyager mission team had completed five planetary encounters. But the big blue planet still posed unique challenges.

About 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth is, the icy giant receives only about 0.001 times the amount of sunlight that Earth does. In such low light, Voyager 2’s camera required longer exposures to get quality images. But because the spacecraft would reach a maximum speed of about 60,000 mph (90,000 kph) relative to Earth, a long exposure time would make the image blurry. (Imagine trying to take a picture of a roadside sign from the window of a speeding car.)

So the team programmed Voyager 2’s thrusters to fire gently during the close approach, rotating the spacecraft to keep the camera focused on its target without interrupting the spacecraft’s overall speed and direction.

The probe’s great distance also meant that by the time radio signals from Voyager 2 reached Earth, they were weaker than those of other flybys. But the spacecraft had the advantage of time: The Voyagers communicate with Earth via the Deep Space Network, or DSN, which utilizes radio antennas at sites in Madrid, Spain; Canberra, Australia; and Goldstone, California. During Voyager 2’s Uranus encounter in 1986, the three largest DSN antennas were 64-meters (210 feet) wide. To assist with the Neptune encounter, the DSN expanded the dishes to 70 meters (230 feet). They also included nearby non-DSN antennas to collect data, including another 64-meter (210 feet) dish in Parkes, Australia, and multiple 25-meter (82 feet) antennas at the Very Large Array in New Mexico.

Neptune and rings

The effort ensured that engineers could hear Voyager loud and clear. It also increased how much data could be sent back to Earth in a given period, enabling the spacecraft to send back more pictures from the flyby. 

In the week leading up to that August 1989 close encounter, the atmosphere was electric at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which manages the Voyager mission. As images taken by Voyager 2 during its Neptune approach made the four-hour journey to Earth, Voyager team members would crowd around computer monitors around the Lab to see.

“One of the things that made the Voyager planetary encounters different from missions today is that there was no internet that would have allowed the whole team and the whole world to see the pictures at the same time,” Stone said. “The images were available in real time at a limited number of locations.”

But the team was committed to giving the public updates as quickly as possible, so from Aug. 21 to Aug. 29, they would share their discoveries with the world during daily press conferences. On Aug. 24, a program called “Voyager All Night” broadcast regular updates from the probe’s closest encounter with the planet, which took place at 4 a.m. GMT (9 p.m. in California on Aug. 24).

The next morning, Vice President Dan Quayle visited the Lab to commend the Voyager team. That night, Chuck Berry, whose song “Johnny B. Goode” was included on the Golden Record that flew with both Voyagers, played at JPL’s celebration of the feat.

Chuck Berry and Carl Sagan

Of course, the Voyagers’ achievements extend far beyond that historic week three decades ago. Both probes have now entered interstellar space after exiting the heliosphere — the protective bubble around the planets created by a high-speed flow of particles and magnetic fields spewed outward by our Sun.

They are reporting back to Earth on the “weather” and conditions from this region filled with the debris from stars that exploded elsewhere in our galaxy. They have taken humanity’s first tenuous step into the cosmic ocean where no other operating probes have flown.

Voyager data also complement other missions, including NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer ( IBEX ), which is remotely sensing that boundary where particles from our Sun collide with material from the rest of the galaxy. And NASA is preparing the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe ( IMAP ), due to launch in 2024, to capitalize on Voyager observations.

The Voyagers send their findings back to DSN antennas with 13-watt transmitters — about enough power to run a refrigerator light bulb.

“Every day they travel somewhere that human probes have never been before,” said Stone. “Forty-two years after launch, and they’re still exploring.”

For more information about the Voyager mission visit:

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

For more images of Neptune taken by Voyager 2 visit:

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/neptune/

Calla Cofield Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-808-2469 [email protected]

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Rae Paoletta • Mar 03, 2022

The best space pictures from the Voyager 1 and 2 missions

Launched in 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 missions provided an unprecedented glimpse into the outer solar system — a liminal space once left largely to the imagination. The spacecraft provided views of worlds we’d never seen before, and in some cases, haven’t seen much of since.

The Voyager probes were launched about two weeks apart and had different trajectories, like two tour guides at the same museum. Only Voyager 2 visited the ice giants — Uranus and Neptune — for example.

The Voyagers hold a unique position in the pantheon of space history because they’re still making it; even right now, Voyagers 1 and 2 are the only functioning spacecraft in interstellar space. Both hold a Golden Record that contains sights and sounds of Earth in case alien life were to find one of the spacecraft.

As the Voyager missions voyage on, it’s good to look back at how they captured our solar system before leaving it.

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Where are they now.

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Voyager Project Scientist Ed Stone Honored

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Sun Sends More 'Tsunami Waves' to Voyager 1

December 4, 2013.

Voyager Project Scientist Honored by NASA — Via Stephen Colbert

Voyager Project Scientist Honored by NASA — Vi...

September 12, 2013.

How Do We Know When Voyager Reaches Interstellar Space?

How Do We Know When Voyager Reaches Interstellar Space?

Voyager 1 Has Entered Interstellar Space

Voyager 1 Has Entered Interstellar Space

NASA Spacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey Into Interstellar Space

NASA Spacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey Into Int...

August 20, 2013.

Dr. Edward C. Stone Receives 35th Howard Hughes Memorial Award

Dr. Edward C. Stone Receives 35th Howard Hughes Memo...

August 15, 2013.

NASA Voyager Statement about Competing Models to Explain Recent Spacecraft Data

NASA Voyager Statement about Competing Models to Exp...

NASA Voyager Statement about Competing Models to Explain Recent Spacecraft Data

June 27, 2013

NASA

NASA's Voyager 1 Explores Final Frontier of Our 'Sol...

April 24, 2013.

NASA Invites the Public to Fly Along with Voyager

NASA Invites the Public to Fly Along with Voyager

March 20, 2013.

NASA Voyager Status Update on Voyager 1 Location

NASA Voyager Status Update on Voyager 1 Location

December 3, 2012.

NASA Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space

NASA Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space

October 8, 2012.

NASA

NASA's Voyager Receives 'Breakthrough Award'

September 5, 2012.

Cheers, Voyager: 35 Years of Exploration

Cheers, Voyager: 35 Years of Exploration

August 20, 2012.

Voyager at 35: Break on Through to the Other Side

Voyager at 35: Break on Through to the Other Side

August 3, 2012.

Signs Changing Fast for Voyager at Solar System Edge

Signs Changing Fast for Voyager at Solar System Edge

June 14, 2012.

Data From NASA

Data From NASA's Voyager 1 Point to Interstellar Future

January 17, 2012.

Voyager Instrument Cooling After Heater Turned off

Voyager Instrument Cooling After Heater Turned off

December 5, 2011.

NASA

NASA's Voyager Hits New Region at Solar System Edge

November 14, 2011.

Voyager 2 Completes Switch to Backup Thruster Set

Voyager 2 Completes Switch to Backup Thruster Set

November 5, 2011.

Voyager 2 to Switch to Backup Thruster Set

Voyager 2 to Switch to Backup Thruster Set

June 15, 2011.

Recalculating the Distance to Interstellar Space

Recalculating the Distance to Interstellar Space

June 9, 2011.

Probes Suggest Magnet Bubbles At Solar System Edge

Probes Suggest Magnet Bubbles At Solar System Edge

April 28, 2011.

Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

April 27, 2011.

Five Things About NASA

Five Things About NASA's Voyager Mission

March 8, 2011.

Voyager Seeks The Answer Blowin

Voyager Seeks The Answer Blowin' In The Wind

January 21, 2011.

Voyager Celebrates 25 Years Since Uranus Visit

Voyager Celebrates 25 Years Since Uranus Visit

December 13, 2010.

NASA Probe Sees Solar Wind Decline

NASA Probe Sees Solar Wind Decline

November 11, 2010.

Saturn Then and Now: 30 Years Since Voyager Visit

Saturn Then and Now: 30 Years Since Voyager Visit

October 29, 2010.

New Project Manager as Voyager Explores New Territory

New Project Manager as Voyager Explores New Territory

June 28, 2010.

Voyager 2 at 12,000 Days: The Super-Marathon Continues

Voyager 2 at 12,000 Days: The Super-Marathon Continues

May 24, 2010.

Engineers Diagnosing Voyager 2 Data System

Engineers Diagnosing Voyager 2 Data System

February 12, 2010.

Voyager Celebrates 20-Year-Old Valentine to Solar System

Voyager Celebrates 20-Year-Old Valentine to Solar Sy...

July 2, 2008.

Voyager Squashes View of Solar System

Voyager Squashes View of Solar System

Voyages Through the Heliosphere

Voyages Through the Heliosphere

December 10, 2007.

Voyager 2 Proves Solar System is Squashed

Voyager 2 Proves Solar System is Squashed

Voyager 2 Proves Solar System Is Squashed

Voyager 2 Proves Solar System Is Squashed

August 20, 2007.

Voyager

Voyager's Many Discoveries

Pioneering NASA Spacecraft Mark Thirty Years of Flight

Pioneering NASA Spacecraft Mark Thirty Years of Flight

Voyager at 30: Looking Beyond and Within

Voyager at 30: Looking Beyond and Within

August 15, 2006.

Voyager 1:

Voyager 1: 'The Spacecraft That Could' Hits New Mile...

May 23, 2006.

Voyager: Living on the Edge of the Solar System

Voyager: Living on the Edge of the Solar System

September 23, 2005.

Voyager Finds Three Surprises Near Our Solar System

Voyager Finds Three Surprises Near Our Solar System'...

May 24, 2005.

What

What's It Like Where Voyager Is?

Voyager enters Solar System

Voyager enters Solar System's Final Frontier

January 5, 2005.

Voyagers Surpass 10,000 Days Of Operation

Voyagers Surpass 10,000 Days Of Operation

July 13, 2004.

Voyager 1, Prepare for Action

Voyager 1, Prepare for Action

July 8, 2004.

Blast Wave Blows Through the Solar System

Blast Wave Blows Through the Solar System

November 5, 2003.

Voyager 1 Approaches Solar System

Voyager 1 Approaches Solar System's Final Frontier

October 11, 2002.

Chaos Seen in Movement of Ring-Herding Moons of Saturn

Chaos Seen in Movement of Ring-Herding Moons of Saturn

August 28, 2002.

Programs Will Share Excitement of Voyager Discoveries

Programs Will Share Excitement of Voyager Discoveries

August 19, 2002.

Howdy, Strangers

Howdy, Strangers

August 16, 2002.

25 Years Later, Voyager Mission Keeps Pushing the Space Envelope

25 Years Later, Voyager Mission Keeps Pushing the Sp...

April 9, 2002.

Record Set for Most-Distant Spacecraft Maintenance

Record Set for Most-Distant Spacecraft Maintenance

April 8, 2002.

Voyager Maintenance from 7 Billion Miles Away

Voyager Maintenance from 7 Billion Miles Away

March 1, 2001.

Evidence Seen For Wet Past on Ganymede, Jupiter

Evidence Seen For Wet Past on Ganymede, Jupiter's La...

December 18, 2000.

Most Distant Spacecraft May Reach Shock Zone Soon

Most Distant Spacecraft May Reach Shock Zone Soon

November 17, 1998.

Voyager 2, Back to Normal Flight Operations After Communications Black-out

Voyager 2, Back to Normal Flight Operations After Co...

February 13, 1998.

Voyager 1, Now Most Distant Human-made Object in Space

Voyager 1, Now Most Distant Human-made Object in Space

December 23, 1997.

Voyager Project Manager George Textor to Retire

Voyager Project Manager George Textor to Retire

September 2, 1997.

Two Voyager Spacecraft Still Going Strong After 20 Years

Two Voyager Spacecraft Still Going Strong After 20 Y...

June 10, 1997.

Legacy of JPL

Legacy of JPL's Voyager Missions Highlighted in Even...

May 26, 1993.

Voyager 1 & 2 Discovers Evidence of the Heliopause

Voyager 1 & 2 Discovers Evidence of the Heliopause

October 23, 1991.

Voyagers Continues to Return Data from The Edges of the Milky Way

Voyagers Continues to Return Data from The Edges of ...

February 12, 1990.

Voyager 1 to Take Pictures of Solar System Planets

Voyager 1 to Take Pictures of Solar System Planets

December 1, 1989, voyager's science papers presented at american geoph....

Triton Moon Regenerating Surface

Triton Moon Regenerating Surface

November 16, 1989.

New JPL Appointments

New JPL Appointments

October 26, 1989.

Interruption of Voyager 2 Telemetry Signal

Interruption of Voyager 2 Telemetry Signal

October 2, 1989.

Voyager 2 Discovers Eruption on Triton

Voyager 2 Discovers Eruption on Triton

August 18, 1989.

Voyager 2 Detects Intense Radio Emissions

Voyager 2 Detects Intense Radio Emissions

August 16, 1989.

Usuda Deep Space Center Joins Voyager 2 Mission

Usuda Deep Space Center Joins Voyager 2 Mission

August 15, 1989.

Voyager 2 News Updates

Voyager 2 News Updates

August 3, 1989.

Voyager 2 Reveals Three Additional Neptune Moons

Voyager 2 Reveals Three Additional Neptune Moons

July 7, 1989.

Voyager 2 Discovers New Neptune Moon

Voyager 2 Discovers New Neptune Moon

June 5, 1989.

Voyager 2 Enters Final Planetary Encounter

Voyager 2 Enters Final Planetary Encounter

April 20, 1989.

Voyager 2 Spacecraft Completes Last Change-of-Course Maneuvers

Voyager 2 Spacecraft Completes Last Change-of-Course...

April 11, 1989.

Neptune

Neptune's Ring Arcs Found

November 11, 1988.

Voyager 2 Change-of-course Maneuver Successful

Voyager 2 Change-of-course Maneuver Successful

March 14, 1988.

Rank Prize Awarded to JPL Engineers

Rank Prize Awarded to JPL Engineers

August 7, 1987.

Voyager Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary

Voyager Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary

May 14, 1987.

NASA Voyagers Provides Precise Measurement of New Cosmic Ray Particles

NASA Voyagers Provides Precise Measurement of New Co...

March 9, 1987.

Voyager Project Wins the Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award

Voyager Project Wins the Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace...

September 19, 1986.

NASA Highest Honors Awarded to Voyager Teams

NASA Highest Honors Awarded to Voyager Teams

February 18, 1986.

Voyager 2 Prepares for 1989 Neptune Flyby

Voyager 2 Prepares for 1989 Neptune Flyby

January 16, 1986.

Six Addition Uranus Moons Found

Six Addition Uranus Moons Found

January 1, 1985.

New Uranus Moon Discovered

New Uranus Moon Discovered

February 1, 1982.

Four New Satellites of Saturn Found

Four New Satellites of Saturn Found

December 14, 1979.

Radio Contact with Voyager 1 Re-Established

Radio Contact with Voyager 1 Re-Established

December 13, 1979.

Radio Contact with Voyager 1 Lost

Radio Contact with Voyager 1 Lost

December 4, 1979.

Voyager 1 Light-Sensing Instrument Non-operational

Voyager 1 Light-Sensing Instrument Non-operational

August 1, 1977.

Voyager Will Carry Earth Sounds Record

Voyager Will Carry Earth Sounds Record

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NASA regains contact with Voyager 2 after it went dark for two weeks

The agency 'shouted' a command to the probe across 12.3 billion miles of space..

NASA has reestablished connection with Voyager 2 after a tense two weeks of not hearing anything from the probe. On July 21st, the agency lost contact with Voyager 2 following a series of planned commands that mistakenly pointed it two degrees away from our planet. While it is scheduled to automatically reset its orientation on October 15th, it's not surprising that NASA scientists didn't just wait for that date to know whether the spacecraft is still running. Voyager 2 was launched way back in 1977, and it's one of the only two probes sending us back valuable data on interstellar space.

For a few days after July 21st, NASA wasn't even sure what the spacecraft's condition was. It wasn't until August 1st that multiple ground antennas from the Deep Space Network (DSN) were able to detect a carrier signal from the probe. A carrier signal is what a spacecraft uses to beam data back to the ground, but NASA said the one DSN detected was too weak to be able to transmit any information. Still, it was enough to confirm that Voyager 2 was still working and that it hadn't deviated from its trajectory.

Instead of simply waiting for October, Voyager's ground team decided to take action. They concocted a plan to "shout" a command to the spacecraft across over 12.3 billion miles of space using the DSN, telling it to turn its antenna back to Earth. The whole process illustrated just how vast outer space truly is: It took 18.5 hours for that message to reach the probe, and another 18.5 hours for NASA to start receiving science and telemetry data again, indicating that Voyager 2 had received the command.

This isn't the first time NASA has had issues with the spacecraft. In 2020, it had to provide tech assistance from billions of miles away after it tripped a system that shut off its scientific gear to conserve electricity. Voyager 2 entered interstellar space — that means it exited the plasma bubble created by our sun — back in 2018, becoming the second human-made object to do so after Voyager 1. Although NASA believes that both Voyager 1 and 2 could remain in contact with the DSN until 2036, it also says that "science data won't likely be collected after 2025." The spacecraft could only be providing us information on interstellar space for less than two years, so it stands to reason that scientists don't want to waste a single day it can send data back to Earth.

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IMAGES

  1. Why Voyager 2 is the most important Spacecraft that is out there

    voyager 2 latest photos

  2. Voyager 2’s Discoveries From Interstellar Space

    voyager 2 latest photos

  3. Voyager 2 latest: Voyager 2 reaches interstellar space and makes

    voyager 2 latest photos

  4. An interview with Voyager 2 ... at the edge of the solar system

    voyager 2 latest photos

  5. 10 Best Photos Taken By Voyager 2

    voyager 2 latest photos

  6. Voyager 2 is Really Far Out There, Man

    voyager 2 latest photos

VIDEO

  1. NASA Voyager Mission in Interstellar Space: Can it Still Find Alien Life?

  2. Nasa Voyager 1 And 2 Detected Something Beyond The Edge of Our Solar System

  3. Voyager Clip

  4. Where is Voyager 2 right now

  5. How FAR is VOYAGER 1 after 46 YEARS

  6. Voyager2: Part2

COMMENTS

  1. Voyager

    Galleries of Images Voyager Took. The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before starting their journey toward interstellar space. Here you'll find some of those iconic images, including "The Pale Blue Dot" - famously described by Carl Sagan - and what are still the only up-close images of Uranus and Neptune.

  2. Images taken by the Voyager 2 Spacecraft

    Color Voyager 2 Image Showing Crescent Uranus Full Resolution: TIFF (231.9 kB) JPEG (17.76 kB) 1998-06-04: Enceladus: Voyager: VG ISS - Narrow Angle: 1004x1004x3: PIA00347: Voyager 2 Color Image of Enceladus, Almost ...

  3. Voyager

    Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc in the event that the spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life forms from other planetary systems. Examine the images and sounds of planet earth. The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before starting their journey toward interstellar space.

  4. Voyager 2: Nasa fully back in contact with lost space probe

    Nasa is back in full contact with its lost Voyager 2 probe months earlier than expected, the space agency said. In July a wrong command was made to the spacecraft, sent to explore space in 1977 ...

  5. Images taken by the Voyager Mission

    5230x5175x3. PIA23645: Pale Blue Dot Revisited. Full Resolution: TIFF (31.3 MB) JPEG (632.7 kB) 2018-12-10. Voyager Interstellar Mission. 1920x1080x3. PIA22921: Voyager 2 and the Scale of the Solar System (Artist's Concept)

  6. Voyager 2

    At Uranus, Voyager 2 discovered 10 new moons and two new rings. Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly by Neptune. At Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered five moons, four rings, and a "Great Dark Spot." ... Voyager 2 also returned spectacular photos of Miranda, Oberon, Ariel, Umbriel, and Titania, five of Uranus' larger moons. In flying ...

  7. Images taken by the Voyager 2 Spacecraft

    Several Signs Pointing to Interstellar Space. Full Resolution: TIFF (545.3 kB) JPEG (170.9 kB) 2018-12-10. Voyager Interstellar Mission. 1920x1080x3. PIA22921: Voyager 2 and the Scale of the Solar System (Artist's Concept) Full Resolution: TIFF (3.054 MB) JPEG (323.8 kB) 2023-04-26.

  8. Voyager 2: An iconic spacecraft that's still exploring 45 years on

    Voyager 2 snapped detailed photos of the icy moon's cracks from 128,000 miles (205,996 km) away and revealed no change in elevation anywhere on the moon's surface. ... Her latest book, "Why Am I ...

  9. Voyager 2: the story of its mission so far

    A new mission logo. On 10 October 1989 and 5 December 1989 the probes' cameras turn off ... Nasa Photo/Alamy. ... in August 2012. Heading in a different direction, Voyager 2 crossed another part ...

  10. Voyager 2 bounces back from glitch in interstellar space

    Nice going Voyager 2, no solar powered space probe here :) FYI, 22.2E+9 kilometers is 148.4 AU distance from earth. 11.5 billion miles is closer to 18.5E+9 kilometers or 123.66 AU distance from earth.

  11. Interstellar space even weirder than expected, NASA's Voyager 2 reveals

    In the blackness of space billions of miles from home, NASA's Voyager 2 marked a milestone of exploration, becoming just the second spacecraft ever to enter interstellar space in November 2018 ...

  12. NASA Voyager Probes: 18 Best Pictures As 46-Year Journey ...

    NASA's Voyager probes have been traveling through space for nearly 46 years. Here are 18 groundbreaking photos from their incredible mission. Marianne Guenot. Updated. Aug 1, 2023, 4:01 AM PDT ...

  13. Voyager 2 Color Image of Enceladus, Almost Full Disk

    This color Voyager 2 image mosaic shows the water-ice-covered surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's icy moons. Enceladus' diameter of just 500 km would fit across the state of Arizona, yet despite its small size Enceladus exhibits one of the most interesting surfaces of all the icy satellites. Enceladus reflects about 90% of the incident ...

  14. 10 Best Photos Taken By Voyager 2

    An enhanced color image of Saturn's rings taken from the Voyager 2 spacecraft on Aug. 1981. Space Frontiers/Getty Images. View of volcanic eruptions of Pele on Jupiter's moon Io taken from the ...

  15. Voyager 2 Sent Back Its Final Images From Space. What Did It Find?

    Voyager 2 Sent Back Its Final Images From Space. What Did It Find?The Voyager spacecraft has been flying through the deep reaches of space for more than 40 y...

  16. Historic space photo of the week: Voyager 2 spies a storm on Saturn 42

    Voyager 2 measured winds blowing at Saturn's equator at a whopping 1,100 mph (1,770 km/h). ... Ring Nebula glistens like a jelly-filled doughnut in Webb telescope's latest images —Space photo of ...

  17. 30 Years Ago: Voyager 2's Historic Neptune Flyby

    Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system's eighth planet. Marking the end of the Voyager mission's Grand Tour of the solar system's four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — that first was also a last: No ...

  18. The best space pictures from the Voyager 1 and 2 missions

    Image: NASA / JPL / Ted Stryk. Saturn as seen by Voyager 1 The last picture from Voyager 1's approach to Saturn in which the entire planet and ring system can be seen in a single frame. Image: NASA/JPL/Björn Jónsson. Voyager 2's best view of Enceladus This was the Voyager mission's best view of Enceladus, captured by Voyager 2 on August 26 ...

  19. Voyager

    Five new research papers detail Voyager 2's observations since it exited the heliosphere, or the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by our Sun. August 22, 2019. Humanity's first and (so far) last visit to the outermost giant planet in our solar system was a monumental event for scientists and the public alike.

  20. NASA regains contact with Voyager 2 after it went dark for ...

    Voyager 2 entered interstellar space — that means it exited the plasma bubble created by our sun — back in 2018, ... The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is on sale for a record low of $40 ...