VOYAGER 2Antoine HendersonFiona Ward

About• 722 kg space probe• Launched August 20, 1977 • Launched before (but

eventually passed by) Voyager 1

• Operating for 36 years, 1 month, and 27 days (17 Oct)

• 103.00 AU from Earth (15 Oct)

• Still receiving and transmitting via Deep Space Network

• Current Velocity: 15.428 km/s (relative to Sun)

Spacecraft Specifications• Jet Propulsion Laboratory• Attitude and Articulation

Control Subsystem (AACS) ▫ 16 Hydrazine Thrusters▫ Three-axis stabilization ▫ Gyroscopes and celestial

referencing instruments (Sun sensor/Canopus Star Tracker)

▫ High-gain antenna▫ 8 back-up thrusters

• The Golden Record

• 11 Scientific Instruments▫ Imaging & Radio systems▫ Infrared, Ultraviolet, &

Plasma Spectrometers▫ Triaxial Fluxgate

Magnetometer▫ Low Energy Charged

Particle Instrument▫ Cosmic Ray & Plasma Wave

systems▫ Planetary Radio Astronomy

Investigation▫ PhotopolarimeterSystem

• Power: 3 Multihundred-Watt radioisotope thermoelectric generators (MHW RTG)

Mission Objectives• “To extend the NASA

exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun's sphere of influence, and possibly beyond.” –JPL, NASA

• Characterize outer solar system

• Discovery & Infiltration of Heliopause Boundary

Accomplishments• Only Space Probe to Study

All Four Jovian Planets▫ Jupiter▫ Saturn▫ Uranus▫ Neptune

• Discovered:▫ Volcanic Activity on Io▫ Great Red Spot Was a

Storm▫ Moved in an Anti-Clockwise

Motion▫ Rings of Jupiter▫ Roughly Determined

Structure of Jupiter’s Rings