Mission Voyager of NASA is one of the most important achievements in the history of space exploration. Launched in 1977, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft have made epic journeys, passing giant planets in the Solar System and continuing to explore interstellar space. The discoveries from this mission will not only help us better understand the major planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, but will also expand our understanding of the boundaries of the Solar System and beyond. interstellar space.
To date, both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are still operating and sending valuable data back to Earth from billions of kilometers away. With more than 40 years of operation, Voyager is NASA’s oldest space mission and has surpassed limits that humans have never reached before.
1. Discoveries of Giant Planets
One of the main goals of the Voyager mission is to study giant planets in the Solar System. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 performed flybys of these planets and provided unprecedented images and data. For example, Voyager 1 provided the first images of these giant storms Jupiterincluding the Great Red Spot, and discovered that Jupiter’s moons Io and Europa are geologically active.
Voyager 2 was the only spacecraft to fly by at all Uranus and Neptuneprovides close-up images of these planets and reveals faint rings around them. At Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered the Great Dark Spot – a giant storm similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and discovered many new moons such as Triton.
2. Journey Beyond the Solar System
After completing their mission to probe the giant planets, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 continued their journey to explore interstellar space. Voyager 1 officially became the first human-made object to leave the Solar System in 2012, when it passed heliospheric boundary (heliopause) – the boundary where the influence of the solar wind ends and interstellar space begins.
Voyager 2 also crossed this boundary in 2018, becoming the second spacecraft to enter interstellar space. Both spacecraft are still sending back valuable data about the interstellar space environment, providing us with a first-hand look at this unexplored region of space.
3. Voyager Golden Disc – Message Sent into the Universe
One of the most distinctive elements of the Voyager mission was Voyager Golden Disca message sent to extraterrestrial civilizations. Each Voyager carries a golden disc containing sounds and images from Earth, including classical music, natural sounds and greetings in many languages.
This Golden Disc is designed to last billions of years in space, in the hope that if Voyager is one day found by another civilization, they will be able to understand that we – humans – already exist and wish to connect with them.
4. Communication System from a Distance of Billions of Kilometers
One of the biggest challenges of the Voyager mission is maintaining contact with Earth from billions of kilometers away. To do this, NASA used Deep Space Networka system of three large antenna stations located in the US, Spain and Australia. These stations allowed communication with Voyager to be maintained regardless of Earth’s position in orbit around the Sun.
Although the signal from Voyager is currently very weak and took more than 19 hours to transmit from Voyager 1 to Earth, the system continues to operate, ensuring that we can still receive data from long distances. more than ever.
Voyager mission
The Voyager mission was not only an outstanding technical success but also one of humanity’s greatest journeys in space exploration. The discoveries of giant planets and the journey beyond the borders of the Solar System have helped us better understand the vast universe. With Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are continuing to explore the Sao Sao space, this mission not only leaves a mark in history but also continues to open new doors for space research.
