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