What is Voyager 1 Spacecraft?

About Voyager 1 Spacecraft

• It is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, about two weeks after its twin Voyager 2.
• Objective: To study the outer Solar System and beyond. 
• Voyager 1’s mission has included flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, with the goal of studying their moons, rings, and magnetic fields.
• It is currently the most distant human-made object from Earth.
• It was the first spacecraft to cross the heliosphere, the boundary where the influences outside our solar system are stronger than those from our Sun.
• It crossed into interstellar space in August 2012, making it the first human-madeobjectto venture out of the solar system.
• It discovered a thin ring around Jupiter and two new Jovian moons: Thebe and Metis.
• At Saturn, Voyager 1 found five new moons and a new ring called the G-ring.
• Voyager 1 carries a golden record that contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, in the event that it is ever encountered by extraterrestrial life.
• According to NASA, Voyager 1 has enough fuel to keep its instruments running untilat least 2025. By then, the spacecraft will be approximately 13.8 billion miles (22.1 billion kilometers) away from the sun.

Key Facts about Voyager 2 Spacecraft

• It is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977.
• It is part of the Voyager program, which also includes Voyager 1.
• Primary mission: To study the outer planets of our solar system and their moons, and then continue on an interstellar mission.
• It is the second spacecraft to enter interstellar space.
• It also carries a golden record similar to Voyager 1.
• Firsts:
  • It is the only spacecraft to study all four of the solar system’s giant planets at close range.
  • It discovered a 14th moon at Jupiter.
  • It was the first human-made object to fly past Uranus.
  • At Uranus, Voyager 2 discovered 10 new moons and two new rings.
  • It was the first human-made object to fly by Neptune.
  • At Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered five moons, four rings, and a “Great Dark Spot.”

Q1: What is Interstellar space?

Interstellar space is the area between the stars, but it is far from empty. It contains vast quantities of neutrinos, charged particles, atoms, molecules, dark matter and photons ranging from the highest-energy radiation to the sluggish light of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) albeit rather sparsely spread out.

Source: “Hi, It’s Me”: NASA’s Voyager 1 Phones Home From 15 Billion Miles Away

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