Voyager Missions
Both Voyager spacecraft carry a greeting to any form of life. The message is on a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk (right) containing sounds and images that portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. One of the musical selections on the Voyager gold record is Chuck Berry's 1950s hit.
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 achieved the Grand Tour of our outer solar system, taking advantage of a rare planetary alignment to visit the four giant outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, a feat not likely to be repeated in our lifetimes. The primary mission of Voyager 2 was to be a backup for Voyager 1 in case anything should prevent it from completing its mission, or in case Voyager 1 made some fantastic discovery.
Voyager 2 achieved the Grand Tour of our outer solar system, taking advantage of a rare planetary alignment to visit the four giant outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, a feat not likely to be repeated in our lifetimes. The primary mission of Voyager 2 was to be a backup for Voyager 1 in case anything should prevent it from completing its mission, or in case Voyager 1 made some fantastic discovery.
Voyager 1
Voyager 1 was launched after Voyager 2, but because of a faster route, it exited the asteroid belt earlier than its twin. It began its Jovian imaging mission in April 1978 at a range of 265 million kilometers from the planet; images sent back by January the following year indicated that Jupiter's atmosphere was more turbulent than during the Pioneer flybys in 1973 and 1974.
Voyager 1 was launched after Voyager 2, but because of a faster route, it exited the asteroid belt earlier than its twin. It began its Jovian imaging mission in April 1978 at a range of 265 million kilometers from the planet; images sent back by January the following year indicated that Jupiter's atmosphere was more turbulent than during the Pioneer flybys in 1973 and 1974.