Voyager probes are pioneers of science, reaching farther into space than any other man-made object.
NASA originally sent the twin probes on a four-year mission to Jupiter and Saturn in 1977; they exceeded all expectations and are still lasting 45 years later.
Amazing photos of the solar system are among the accomplishments they transmitted before NASA shut down the cameras.
But now they face a terminal problem: their power is running out and NASA scientists are starting to shut down even more onboard instruments to conserve energy.
As they near the end of their mission, here are 18 images from Voyager that changed science:
The Voyager probes were designed to visit Jupiter and Saturn.
The Voyager mission included two probes – Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 – which NASA launched in 1977 within months of each other.
The launches capitalized on a rare alignment of planets that allowed them to turbocharge their space travels.
NASA originally built the probes to last five years, but exceeded that lifespan several times.
This is what Voyager 1 saw on its approach to Jupiter.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in 1979. They took about 50,000 photos of the planet in total, which far exceeded the quality of the photos scientists took of Earth, according to NASA.
The images taught scientists important facts about the planet’s atmosphere, magnetic forces and geology that would have been difficult to decipher otherwise.
The probes have discovered two new moons orbiting Jupiter: Thebe and Metis…
…as well as a thin ring around Jupiter.
The probe captured this image as it gazed at the planet backlit by the Sun.
Voyager 1’s biggest discovery was the volcanic activity on the surface of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons.
Next stop: Saturn
In 1980 and 1981, the probes reached Saturn. The flyby gave scientists unprecedented insight into the planet’s ring structure, atmosphere and moons.
Voyager taught scientists the details of Saturn’s rings.
Voyager captured Saturn’s moon Enceladus in unprecedented detail.
This photo, taken as the probe lifted off, offered a unique view of the planet.
In 1986, Voyager 2 had reached Uranus
Voyager 1 continued straight ahead and would not encounter another planet on its journey out of the solar system.
But Voyager 2 continued its exploration of our nearest planets, passing within 50,600 miles of Uranus in January 1986.
He discovered two more rings around Uranus, revealing that the planet had at least 11, not 9.
His images of Uranus’ largest moons also revealed 11 never-before-seen moons.
Here is a photo of a Miranda, the sixth largest moon of Uranus.
Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to observe Neptune up close.
In 1989, 12 years after its launch, Voyager 2 passed within 3,000 miles of Neptune.
An image shows the entire blue Neptune.
An image shows the rough surface of Triton.
It captured Neptune’s moon Triton in unprecedented detail.
Another shows the southern hemisphere of Triton.
He captured the rings of Neptune.
Here, Voyager saw the crescent shape of Neptune’s south pole as it departed.
Voyager 2 would never take pictures again. Since it would not encounter another planet during its current journey, NASA turned off its cameras after its flyby of Neptune to conserve power for other instruments.
Voyager took 60 images of the solar system about 4 billion miles away.
As the last photographic lap, Voyager 1 took 60 images of the solar system 4 billion miles away in 1990.
He gave us the most distant self-portrait on Earth, nicknamed the “pale blue dot”.
This will probably remain for some time the longest range selfie in human history: a portrait of the Earth from 4 billion kilometers away.
After this image, NASA turned off Voyager 1’s cameras to save power. NASA could turn the probes’ cameras back on, but that’s not a priority for the mission.
beyond the solar system
Although the probes are no longer sending images, they have not stopped sending crucial information about space.
In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first man-made instrument to traverse interstellar space, passing the heliopause, the boundary between our solar system and the rest of the universe.
Voyager 2 was the second, crossing the boundary in 2018. It then revealed that there was an additional boundary surrounding our solar bubble.
The probes continue to return measurements from interstellar space, like eerie buzzes likely coming from the vibrations of nearby stars.
Even after the extinction of their instruments, the mission of the probes continues.
Now, NASA is starting to shut down the last of the probes’ instruments in hopes of extending their lifespans into the 2030s.
But even after all the instruments have gone silent, the probes will continue to drift carrying away the golden disk, which could provide crucial information about humanity if intelligent extraterrestrial life existed and should it encounter the probes.
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