JPL Visit Blog #6, Morgan Grimes


JPL Research: Voyager I and II

            The Voyager missions, launched in 1977, were proposed in the summer of 1965. It was found that if the voyagers were launched in the late 1970s it would be possible to visit all four of the outer giant planets, and so the voyager missions were born. The approval of the voyager mission came in 1972. The mission was originally named “Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977”. The primary goal of the voyager missions was to explore Jupiter and Saturn, but as those goals were achieved the missions were extended. 
            The Voyager missions were made possible by the alignment of the outer four planets. This alignment, occurring every 176 years, made it possible to “slingshot” the voyagers from one planet to the next using their gravitational pull. This would allow the voyagers to be the first spacecraft to visit all four of the outer giants in our solar system. This was true for only Voyager II however. Voyager I was launched on a faster trajectory and was only meant to reach Jupiter and Saturn.
            Voyager II was launched on August 20th, 1977. Although it was launched first it was named Voyager II because it was projected to reach Jupiter and Saturn after Voyager I. Voyager I was launched shortly after, on September 5th, 1977. Less than two years later Voyager I reaches Jupiter on March 5th, 1979.  This encounter leads to the discoveries of the fist active volcanoes beyond Earth, as well as the Jovian ring system and two new moons. Shortly after Voyager II encounters Jupiter on July 9, 1979. Voyager II sends back the first images of Jupiter’s ring system, as well as a third new moon. Voyager II also encounters Europa, Jupiter’s main moon. The images of Europa show features that suggests ice covering a liquid water ocean on the surface. 
            Voyager I then reaches Saturn on November 9th, 1980. This encounter aids scientists in discovering three new moons. Scientists also discover the first nitrogen-rich atmosphere beyond earth, on Titan. After this encounter with Saturn Voyager I begins its journey out of the solar system. It is launched out of Saturn’s orbit at an upward trajectory. It will not encounter any more planets on its journey. On August 25th, 1981 Voyager II encounters Saturn. Voyager II images some of Saturn’s moons, as well as Saturn’s North Pole. Next Voyager II encounters Uranus on January 24th, 1986, nearly a decade after it was first launch. This is the first time that Uranus has been observed up close by spacecraft. From this encounter scientists discover nearly 11 new moons, as well as the fact that Uranus’s magnetic field is tilted so that the poles are closer to the equator. This means that Uranus is rotating on its side, rather than straight up and down. 
            Finally on August 25th, 1989 Voyager II reaches its final planetary destination, Neptune. This encounter makes it the first spacecraft to visit all four of the planets beyond Earth. After its encounter with Neptune it is launched out of orbit at a downward trajectory, moving towards the edge of our solar system and beyond. The Voyager missions would now be quiet for nearly 20 years. 
            November 16th, 2004 Voyager I is the first spacecraft to cross the shock barrier.  The shock barrier is the edge of the bubble of winds that the sun blows around itself and the planets. Two years later Voyager II crosses the shock barrier as well.  On August 25, 2012 Voyager I makes history as the first human-made object to enter interstellar space. Nearly six years later Voyager follows by making it into interstellar space. 
            Both Voyager missions successfully completed their original goals, and continue to send data and information back to NASA nearly 42 years after their initial launch. The information being collected by these missions is not only invaluable, but also the first of its kind. The longevity and success of these missions has set a precedent for humans’ ability to explore and understand the ever-expanding frontier of space.
            

 Jupiter, Voyager II
Promotional Poster

 Voyager I and II in Interstellar Space
Projection of Voyager I and II, 1965

Neptune, Voyager II

All Images taken from https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JPL Visit 2

On our second trip to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory campus, the majority of the day was focused on the tree of life project being run by the arts team. We had many of our questions answered about the project, and witnessed first-hand the process the team takes in generating and refining their projects based on the research and findings of the NASA scientists. My main question in regards to the tree of life dealt with how the team planned to create a cube-sat which had the ability to last the duration of the project, 200 years, since no such thing has ever been done before. My favorite brainstorming session activity was writing down every question we had about the project on sticky notes and putting them up on the wall. I wish our questions had all been answered because I think the project is still very early on and a lot of people had really great questions to ask. We briefly viewed a few of the things we had seen during the first visit, including the clean room with the more-develop...
Read more

Blog #7- Sammy Keane

Image
Sammy Keane Blog #7  Since I was unable to attend the second JPL field trip due to unfortunate events, I found myself looking throughout NASA’s dense website. Juno, NASA’s mission to Jupiter, really stood out to me. Launched on August 5, 2011, the goal of this mission was to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Juno is a solar-powered spacecraft that’s observations will lead to a better understanding of the formation of our solar system and planetary systems discovered around other stars (eyes on the solar system). In addition to that, Juno would look for solid planetary core, map its magnetic field, measure water and ammonia in its atmosphere, and finally observe auroras (nasa.gov). Juno did not arrive at Jupiter until July 4th of 2016. Reading into Mission Juno allowed me to understand more about Jupiter, a planet that I before knew nothing about. For example, written on October 24,19, data from Juno has helped scientists discover that the swirling ban...
Read more

Blog #7: JPL -Sophie Ungless

Image
The majority of our time during this visit to JPL consisted of working with the A-Team to go over the Tree of Life project, which we were introduced to during our first visit last month. The last time we learned about it, I left feeling really confused about exactly what the project was and how it has relevance, so being able to inquire more on this trip was helpful. That being said, though, I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around what the goal of the mission is. It's clear that they were inspired by how we can eventually create a mission that has the ability to arrive at Proxima B, and the drive behind the Tree of Life is this idea of time and longevity. However, the team still doesn't seem clear about how the information they gain from this project can be applied to a future mission involving Proxima B. Or if they do know, they aren't effectively articulating it to the general public, which I believe is going to be vital for keeping interest in the 200 year ...
Read more