Voyager 2:
Voyager 2 achieved the Grand Tour of our outer solar system, taking advantage of a rare
planetary alignment to visit the four giant outer planets
Jupiter,
Saturn,
Uranus, and
Neptune, a feat not likely to be
repeated in our lifetimes. Voyager 2's initial charge was to take over the primary mission
duties at Jupiter and Saturn should anything prevent
Voyager 1 from meeting those objectives, or should
Voyager 1 discover anything so intriguing that it merited a closer look. Voyager 2 flew by
Jupiter at a distance of 722,000 kilometers (448,600 miles), and like its sister, returned
rich images of the planet, its
rings,
and satellites. It was in Voyager 2 images that an optical navigation engineer spotted a
volcanic plume rising 200 kilometers (125 miles) above the surface of
Io. A total of nine active sulfur-spewing
volcanoes were identified on Io, which is about half the size of
Earth's moon! Other exciting
finds by the Voyagers include the possibilty of a liquid ocean beneath the frozen crust of
Europa, and possible plate
tectonics on the surface of
Ganymede. Following its
historic encounter with Jupiter, Voyager 2 continued on to Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune,
and today continues its journey toward interstellar space, diving below the ecliptic
plane.
Visit the Voyager 2 Website
Both Voyager spacecraft carry a greeting to any form of life. The message is on a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk (right) containing sounds and images that portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
