Background of the mission
Scientist always tries to study plants
and interstellar space deeply. Before Voyager, humanity had minimal knowledge
about the giant outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Man-made
probes reached Jupiter twice and Saturn once. Curiosity to study the
compositions, magnetic fields, moons, and potential ring systems, led NASA to
launch a Voyager mission comprising four giant planetary system explorations.
NASA decided to launch two identical space probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, at 16
days intervals in 1977.
Why were two probes used for this mission?
Here is the question that arises in most minds: If both space probes are identical, why do they send two probes instead of one? The answer is that a rare alignment of the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) only occurs once every 176 years. NASA was keen to take advantage of that moment; resultantly, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were designed to study two different trajectories.
Credit NASA
What makes voyagers?
The twin sister probes weigh
about 722 Kg with 11 types of instruments that perform using radio signals to
determine the physical properties of the planets, magnetic fields, measuring
charged particles, atmospheric chemistry, detecting aurorae, and detecting
solar wind through plasma measurements.
The Voyager needs an alternative
power source that keeps the probe alive at a distance where the probes do not
have sufficient sunlight to fuel the thrusters. The best option is to go with
nuclear energy, in the form of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), containing
plutonium-238 that would produce heat to decay, converted into electricity.
When did they launch?
Voyager 1 was set to closer flyby
to Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 was set to pass these two plants towards
its trajectory to explore Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2 was launched on August
20, 1977, as it had to explore the outermost planets, i.e., Uranus and Neptune;
later, Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977.
What was achieved?
Both probes gather remarkable information
about the planetary system under consideration and send it to Earth through Deep
Space. Network (DSN) ground systems.
Jupiter
Voyager 1 was the first to visit Jupiter
in the Voyager mission after 15 months from launch on March 5, 1979, and the Voyager
followed it about four months later on July 9, 1979. Infrared measurement
indicated that Jupitar is a mass of mostly hydrogen with some helium, methane,
ammonia, rock and trace amounts of water. Further, the surprising discovery was
the geological activity on Jupiter’s moon IO, similar to our planet. It
produced as much energy from volcanic activity, making it the most geologically
active place in the Solar System. Jupiter is astonishingly portrayed as a thin
ring in the surrounding planet made from ancient moon debris. It also studied
moons Thebe, Metis, Ganymede and Adrastea.
Saturn
Credit NASA
Voyager 1 flyby the Saturn moon
Titan on November 12, 1980, observing a very thick atmosphere, which pretended
to be the largest moon in the solar system. Where the diameter of a central
solid is less than the diameter of Ganymede, further, the titan has an axial
tilt which causes the gases migration between both hemispheres. Additionally,
discover a new tiny moon Pan as the picture captured by voyager 2 of the Encke
Gap. Here the mission of Voyager 1 was ended, and space probes were bent out
northwards to escape from the ecliptic plane (plane means the path of the planet
in which they orbit the sun). In contrast, Saturn’s gravity gives Voyager 2
bend towards Uranus, resultingly in it helping the Voyager to save power for
more exploration.
Uranus
Credit NASA
After the approx., after five
years of travel, on January 24, 1986, the Voyager 2 encountered aquamarine
coloured planet, confirming the world is made of hydrogen and helium with a
shallow temperature of 216 degrees Celsius. It also discovers the 17.25 hours of
Uranus day. It also observed the polar aurorae that produce high-energy
radiation at the poles. Additionally, Voyager 2 discovered 10 new moons.
Neptune
Credit NASA
On August 25, 1989, Voyager 2 finally reached the final destinated planet, Neptune, a sky-blue planet’s leading composites of hydrogen and helium. However, it also comprises a prominent level of methane, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide. The Neptune is 16.1 hours long and also discovered six new moons. Further, Voyager 2 examine the largest moon of Neptune Triton, having an active volcanic system which is an unbelievable discovery. It is also in the line of third geological place in Solar System at 4.5 million Km from Sun.
What was the next move after the mission was completed?
Voyager 1 completed its mission
after Saturn’s exploration and was allocated to further investigation of
interstellar space. In 1998 the Voyager 1 overtook the Pioneer 10 and became
the human-made object from the Sun. In 1990, voyager 1 captured a picture of
the solar system, which shows the earth as a light blue dot. Later, Voyager 1 entered
interstellar space on August 25, 2012, by getting a velocity of 520 million kilometres
(about 320 million miles) per year at an angle of 35 degrees to rise from the ecliptic
plane. Voyager 2 headed towards the set goal to rise from the ecliptic plane by
having a velocity of 470 million kilometres (about 290 million miles) per year
at a 48-degree angle and enter into interstellar space at a different point,
three years later than Voyager 1. This helped scientists to learn that the
Solar system is not round, but in fact, it is squashed.
What Voyagers found at the
entrance of Interstellar space?
At the boundary of the Solar
System, called Termination Shock, probes observe energetic particles, inferring
they have reached a limit of the Solar System. It was also observed at this
point that Solar wind slowed down due to the interstellar wind encounter.
Before the mission, the scientist presumed that space was an empty expanse,
while it was discovered that interstellar space is comprised of Dark Matter
that holds Milky Way together. Dark Matter is formed of Weakly Interacting
Massive Particles (WIMPs). It is also a fact that scientists cannot study that
kind of particle with such an old instrument. The scientist presents the theory
about the formation of Dark Matter. It is presumed that the collision of two
WIMPs is called annihilation.
.jpg "Interstellar probes")
Credit NASA
Way forward for Interstellar
space
In the year 2020, the control
room switched off each instrument one by one to conserve the power for further missions,
which led to a complete shutdown in 2025. After that point, one faint signal was
received from probes to track their route and position beyond the Solar System
into interstellar space for further few years. If we say about the place of
Voyagers, Voyager 1 is 14.632 billion miles away from the sun, and Voyager 2 is
12.135 billion miles away from Sun on August 29, 2022.
What is Golden Record, and
what is in it?
The Voyager mission also assigns a
task to present the information to extraterrestrial civilisations. NASA placed
the Golden Records on each of the probes in the hope that if these would find
by any extraterrestrial civilisations and advanced enough to run the records,
they would be able to know about the Earth. The question is, what is on the
record? The record contains 115 images, 27 music, 21 sounds and greetings in 55
languages. The contents of the records were selected by the committee of
Cornell University.
The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilisations in interstellar space.
Carl Sagan, Chairman of Committee
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