Which voyage was launched first

Thus, the Voyagers were funded to conduct intensive flyby studies of Jupiter and Saturn only. More than 10, trajectories were studied before choosing the two that would allow close flybys of Jupiter and its large moon Io, and Saturn and its large moon Titan; the chosen flight path for Voyager 2 also preserved the option to continue on to Uranus and Neptune.

Both spacecraft were delivered to space aboard Titan-Centaur expendable rockets. Voyager 1's trajectory, designed to send the spacecraft closely past the large moon Titan and behind Saturn's rings, bent the spacecraft's path inexorably northward out of the ecliptic plane -- the plane in which most of the planets orbit the Sun.

Voyager 2 was aimed to fly by Saturn at a point that would automatically send the spacecraft in the direction of Uranus. After Voyager 2's successful Saturn encounter, it was shown that Voyager 2 would likely be able to fly on to Uranus with all instruments operating. Voyager 2 encountered Uranus on January 24, , returning detailed photos and other data on the planet, its moons, magnetic field and dark rings. Explore some of the significant findings scientists and researchers have discovered with the data shared by the space probe.

Voyager Fun fact : While Voyager 1 has served as an important space probe to learn about our outer solar system, it may also help other potential civilizations in the universe learn about the Earth.

It was meant to act as a time capsule, communicating the sights and sounds of Earth to life on other worlds far from our own. Music, images, and greetings were all put on the record. Voyager 1 still carries the disc as a goodwill ambassador, bringing greetings and classic rock to deep space. See everything on the record here. The goal: a year, multi-generation mission that explores the outer solar system on its way into unexplored regions beyond the solar wind.

A new generation of scientists is eager to run with the baton—including Rankin, who did her Ph. All rights reserved. Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the average temperature of the interstellar medium.

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But will they invade your privacy? Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Voyager 1 came out with some intriguing findings, as well. Io's volcanoes and mottled yellow-brown-orange surface were intriguing finds, proving that, like planets, moons could have active interiors. Additionally, Voyager 1 sent back ephemeral pictures of Europa showing a smooth surface broken up by lines, hinting at ice and maybe even an ocean underneath.

Voyager 1's closest approach to Jupiter was on March 5, , when it came within , miles of the turbulent cloud tops. Then it was time to aim for Saturn. Scientists only had to wait about a year, until , to get close-up pictures of Saturn. The ringed planet turned out to be full of surprises. One of Voyager 1's targets was the F ring, a thin ring discovered only the year previously by Pioneer Voyager's higher-resolution camera spotted two new moons, Prometheus and Pandora, whose orbits keep the debris in the F ring in a defined orbit.

It also discovered Atlas, and a new ring called the "G" ring , and took images of several other Saturnian moons. One puzzle for astronomers was the moon Titan. Close-up pictures of the moon showed nothing but orange haze, leading to years of speculation about what it was like underneath. It wouldn't be until the mids that humanity would send the probe Huygens into the haze.

With Voyager 1's primary mission over, the focus shifted on tracking the small probe as it sped out of the solar system. Voyager 1's official departure from the solar system occurred in August ; the discovery was made public in a study published in Science the following year.

The results came to light after a powerful solar eruption was recorded in Voyager 1's plasma wave instrument between April 9 and May 22,