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Earth to Voyager 2: After a Year in the Darkness, We Can Talk to You Again

Feb 12 2021

Uranus Ejected a Giant Plasma Bubble During Voyager 2’s Visit

Mar 27 2020

Voyager 2’s Discoveries From Interstellar Space

Nov 4 2019

Timothy Ferris on Voyagers' Never-Ending Journey

web.archive.org

What Is on Voyager’s Golden Record?

smithsonianmag.com

History

Further information: Grand Tour program

Background

Main article: Mariner Jupiter-Saturn

In the early space age, it was realized that a periodic alignment of the outer planets would occur in the late 1970s and enable a single probe to visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune by taking advantage of the then-new technique of gravity assists. NASA began work on a Grand Tour, which evolved into a massive project involving two groups of two probes each, with one group visiting Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto and the other Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. The spacecraft would be designed with redundant systems to ensure survival throughout the entire tour. By 1972 the mission was scaled back and replaced with two Mariner program-derived spacecraft, the Mariner Jupiter-Saturn probes. To keep apparent lifetime program costs low, the mission would include only flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, but keep the Grand Tour option open.¹¹: 263  As the program progressed, the name was changed to Voyager.¹²

The primary mission of Voyager 1 was to explore Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Voyager 2 was also to explore Jupiter and Saturn, but on a trajectory that would have the option of continuing on to Uranus and Neptune, or being redirected to Titan as a backup for Voyager 1. Upon successful completion of Voyager 1's objectives, Voyager 2 would get a mission extension to send the probe on towards Uranus and Neptune.¹³ Titan was selected due to the interest developed after the images taken by Pioneer 11 in 1979, which had indicated the atmosphere of the moon was substantial and complex. Hence the trajectory was designed for optimum Titan flyby.¹⁴¹⁵

Spacecraft design

Constructed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Voyager 2, whose bus is shaped like a decagonal prism, included 16 hydrazine thrusters, three-axis stabilization, gyroscopes and celestial referencing instruments (Sun sensor/Canopus Star Tracker) to maintain pointing of the high-gain antenna toward Earth. Collectively these instruments are part of the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS) along with redundant units of most instruments and 8 backup thrusters. The spacecraft also included 11 scientific instruments to study celestial objects as it traveled through space.¹⁶

Communications

Built with the intent for eventual interstellar travel, Voyager 2 included a large, 3.7 m (12 ft) parabolic, high-gain antenna (see diagram) to transceive data via the Deep Space Network on Earth. Communications are conducted over the S-band (about 13 cm wavelength) and X-band (about 3.6 cm wavelength) providing data rates as high as 115.2 kilobits per second at the distance of Jupiter, and then ever-decreasing as distance increases, because of the inverse-square law.¹⁷ When the spacecraft is unable to communicate with Earth, the Digital Tape Recorder (DTR) can record about 64 megabytes of data for transmission at another time.¹⁸

Power

Voyager 2 is equipped with three multihundred-watt radioisotope thermoelectric generators (MHW RTGs). Each RTG includes 24 pressed plutonium oxide spheres. At launch, each RTG provided enough heat to generate approximately 157 W of electrical power. Collectively, the RTGs supplied the spacecraft with 470 watts at launch (halving every 87.7 years). They were predicted to allow operations to continue until at least 2020, and continued to provide power to five scientific instruments through the early part of 2023. In April 2023 JPL began using a reservoir of backup power intended for an onboard safety mechanism. As a result, all five instruments had been expected to continue operation through 2026.^19202122 In October 2024 NASA announced that the plasma science instrument had been turned off, preserving power for the remaining four instruments.²³

Attitude control and propulsion

Because of the energy required to achieve a Jupiter trajectory boost with an 825-kilogram (1,819 lb) payload, the spacecraft included a propulsion module made of a 1,123-kilogram (2,476 lb) solid-rocket motor and eight hydrazine monopropellant rocket engines, four providing pitch and yaw attitude control, and four for roll control. The propulsion module was jettisoned shortly after the successful Jupiter burn.

Sixteen hydrazine Aerojet MR-103 thrusters on the mission module provide attitude control.²⁴ Four are used to execute trajectory correction maneuvers; the others in two redundant six-thruster branches, to stabilize the spacecraft on its three axes. Only one branch of attitude control thrusters is needed at any time.²⁵

Thrusters are supplied by a single 70-centimeter (28 in) diameter spherical titanium tank. It contained 100 kilograms (220 lb) of hydrazine at launch, providing enough fuel until 2034.²⁶

Scientific instruments

Main article: Voyager program

Mission profile

Launch and trajectory

The Voyager 2 probe was launched on August 20, 1977, by NASA from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Titan IIIE/Centaur launch vehicle. Two weeks later, the twin Voyager 1 probe was launched on September 5, 1977. However, Voyager 1 reached both Jupiter and Saturn sooner, as Voyager 2 had been launched into a longer, more circular trajectory.³⁷³⁸

Voyager 1's initial orbit had an aphelion of 8.9 AU (830 million mi; 1.33 billion km), just a little short of Saturn's orbit of 9.5 AU (880 million mi; 1.42 billion km). Whereas, Voyager 2's initial orbit had an aphelion of 6.2 AU (580 million mi; 930 million km), well short of Saturn's orbit.³⁹

In April 1978, no commands were transmitted to Voyager 2 for a period of time, causing the spacecraft to switch from its primary radio receiver to its backup receiver.⁴⁰ Sometime afterwards, the primary receiver failed altogether. The backup receiver was functional, but a failed capacitor in the receiver meant that it could only receive transmissions that were sent at a precise frequency, and this frequency would be affected by the Earth's rotation (due to the Doppler effect) and the onboard receiver's temperature, among other things.⁴¹⁴²

Encounter with Jupiter

Further information: Exploration of Jupiter

Voyager 2's closest approach to Jupiter occurred at 22:29 UT on July 9, 1979.⁴³ It came within 570,000 km (350,000 mi) of the planet's cloud tops.⁴⁴ Jupiter's Great Red Spot was revealed as a complex storm moving in a counterclockwise direction. Other smaller storms and eddies were found throughout the banded clouds.⁴⁵

Voyager 2 returned images of Jupiter, as well as its moons Amalthea, Io, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa.⁴⁶ During a 10-hour "volcano watch", it confirmed Voyager 1's observations of active volcanism on the moon Io, and revealed how the moon's surface had changed in the four months since the previous visit.⁴⁷ Together, the Voyagers observed the eruption of nine volcanoes on Io, and there is evidence that other eruptions occurred between the two Voyager fly-bys.⁴⁸

Jupiter's moon Europa displayed a large number of intersecting linear features in the low-resolution photos from Voyager 1. At first, scientists believed the features might be deep cracks, caused by crustal rifting or tectonic processes. Closer high-resolution photos from Voyager 2, however, were puzzling: the features lacked topographic relief, and one scientist said they "might have been painted on with a felt marker".⁴⁹ Europa is internally active due to tidal heating at a level about one-tenth that of Io. Europa is thought to have a thin crust (less than 30 km (19 mi) thick) of water ice, possibly floating on a 50 km (31 mi)-deep ocean.⁵⁰⁵¹

Two new, small satellites, Adrastea and Metis, were found orbiting just outside the ring.⁵² A third new satellite, Thebe, was discovered between the orbits of Amalthea and Io.⁵³

Encounter with Saturn

Further information: Exploration of Saturn

The closest approach to Saturn occurred at 03:24:05 UT on August 26, 1981.⁵⁴ When Voyager 2 passed behind Saturn, viewed from Earth, it utilized its radio link to investigate Saturn's upper atmosphere, gathering data on both temperature and pressure. In the highest regions of the atmosphere, where the pressure was measured at 70 mbar (1.0 psi),⁵⁵ Voyager 2 recorded a temperature of 82 K (−191.2 °C; −312.1 °F). Deeper within the atmosphere, where the pressure was recorded to be 1,200 mbar (17 psi), the temperature rose to 143 K (−130 °C; −202 °F).⁵⁶ The spacecraft also observed that the north pole was approximately 10 °C (18 °F) cooler at 100 mbar (1.5 psi) than mid-latitudes, a variance potentially attributable to seasonal shifts⁵⁷ (see also Saturn Oppositions).

After its Saturn fly-by, Voyager 2's scan platform experienced an anomaly causing its azimuth actuator to seize. This malfunction led to some data loss and posed challenges for the spacecraft's continued mission. The anomaly was traced back to a combination of issues, including a design flaw in the actuator shaft bearing and gear lubrication system, corrosion, and debris build-up. While overuse and depleted lubricant were factors,⁵⁸ other elements, such as dissimilar metal reactions and a lack of relief ports, compounded the problem. Engineers on the ground were able to issue a series of commands, rectifying the issue to a degree that allowed the scan platform to resume its function.⁵⁹ Voyager 2, which would have been diverted to perform the Titan flyby if Voyager 1 had been unable to, did not pass near Titan due to the malfunction, and subsequently, proceeded with its mission to explore the Uranian system.⁶⁰: 94 

Encounter with Uranus

Further information: Exploration of Uranus

The closest approach to Uranus occurred on January 24, 1986, when Voyager 2 came within 81,500 km (50,600 mi) of the planet's cloudtops.⁶¹ Voyager 2 also discovered 11 previously unknown moons: Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck and Perdita.⁶² The mission also studied the planet's unique atmosphere, caused by its axial tilt of 97.8°; and examined the Uranian ring system.⁶³ The length of a day on Uranus as measured by Voyager 2 is 17 hours, 14 minutes.⁶⁴ Uranus was shown to have a magnetic field that was misaligned with its rotational axis, unlike other planets that had been visited to that point,⁶⁵⁶⁶ and a helix-shaped magnetic tail stretching 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) away from the Sun.⁶⁷

When Voyager 2 visited Uranus, much of its cloud features were hidden by a layer of haze; however, false-color and contrast-enhanced images show bands of concentric clouds around its south pole. This area was also found to radiate large amounts of ultraviolet light, a phenomenon that is called "dayglow". The average atmospheric temperature is about 60 K (−351.7 °F; −213.2 °C). The illuminated and dark poles, and most of the planet, exhibit nearly the same temperatures at the cloud tops.⁶⁸

The Voyager 2 Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) experiment observed 140 lightning flashes, or Uranian electrostatic discharges with a frequency of 0.9-40 MHz.⁶⁹⁷⁰ The UEDs were detected from 600,000 km (370,000 mi) of Uranus over 24 hours, most of which were not visible.⁷¹ However, microphysical modeling suggests that Uranian lightning occurs in convective storms occurring in deep troposphere water clouds.⁷² If this is the case, lightning will not be visible due to the thick cloud layers above the troposphere.⁷³ Uranian lightning has a power of around 108 W, emits 1×10^7 J – 2×10^7 J of energy, and lasts an average of 120 ms.⁷⁴

Detailed images from Voyager 2's flyby of the Uranian moon Miranda showed huge canyons made from geological faults.⁷⁵ One hypothesis suggests that Miranda might consist of a reaggregation of material following an earlier event when Miranda was shattered into pieces by a violent impact.⁷⁶

Voyager 2 discovered two previously unknown Uranian rings.⁷⁷⁷⁸ Measurements showed that the Uranian rings are different from those at Jupiter and Saturn. The Uranian ring system might be relatively young, and it did not form at the same time that Uranus did. The particles that make up the rings might be the remnants of a moon that was broken up by either a high-velocity impact or torn up by tidal effects.⁷⁹⁸⁰

In March 2020, NASA astronomers reported the detection of a large atmospheric magnetic bubble, also known as a plasmoid, released into outer space from the planet Uranus, after reevaluating old data recorded during the flyby.⁸¹⁸²

Encounter with Neptune

Further information: Exploration of Neptune

Following a course correction in 1987, Voyager 2's closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989.⁸³⁸⁴ Through repeated computerized test simulations of trajectories through the Neptunian system conducted in advance, flight controllers determined the best way to route Voyager 2 through the Neptune–Triton system. Since the plane of the orbit of Triton is tilted significantly with respect to the plane of the ecliptic; through course corrections, Voyager 2 was directed into a path about 4,950 km (3,080 mi) above the north pole of Neptune.⁸⁵⁸⁶ Five hours after Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune, it performed a close fly-by of Triton, Neptune's largest moon, passing within about 40,000 km (25,000 mi).⁸⁷

In 1989, the Voyager 2 Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) experiment observed around 60 lightning flashes, or Neptunian electrostatic discharges emitting energies over 7×108 J.⁸⁸ A plasma wave system (PWS) detected 16 electromagnetic wave events with a frequency range of 50 Hz – 12 kHz at magnetic latitudes 7˚–33˚.⁸⁹⁹⁰ These plasma wave detections were possibly triggered by lightning over 20 minutes in the ammonia clouds of the magnetosphere.⁹¹ During Voyager 2's closest approach to Neptune, the PWS instrument provided Neptune’s first plasma wave detections at a sample rate of 28,800 samples per second.⁹² The measured plasma densities range from 10–3 – 10–1 cm–3.⁹³⁹⁴

Voyager 2 discovered previously unknown Neptunian rings,⁹⁵ and confirmed six new moons: Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Naiad and Thalassa.⁹⁶⁹⁷ While in the neighborhood of Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered the "Great Dark Spot", which has since disappeared, according to observations by the Hubble Space Telescope.⁹⁸ The Great Dark Spot was later hypothesized to be a region of clear gas, forming a window in the planet's high-altitude methane cloud deck.⁹⁹

Interstellar mission

Once its planetary mission was over, Voyager 2 was described as working on an interstellar mission, which NASA is using to find out what the Solar System is like beyond the heliosphere. As of September 2023 Voyager 2 is transmitting scientific data at about 160 bits per second.¹⁰⁰ Information about continuing telemetry exchanges with Voyager 2 is available from Voyager Weekly Reports.¹⁰¹

In 1992, Voyager 2 observed the nova V1974 Cygni in the far-ultraviolet, first of its kind. The further increase in the brightness at those wavelengths helped in the more detailed study of the nova.¹⁰²¹⁰³

In July 1994, an attempt was made to observe the impacts from fragments of the comet Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with Jupiter.¹⁰⁴ The craft's position meant it had a direct line of sight to the impacts and observations were made in the ultraviolet and radio spectrum.¹⁰⁵ Voyager 2 failed to detect anything, with calculations showing that the fireballs were just below the craft's limit of detection.¹⁰⁶

On November 29, 2006, a telemetered command to Voyager 2 was incorrectly decoded by its on-board computer—in a random error—as a command to turn on the electrical heaters of the spacecraft's magnetometer. These heaters remained turned on until December 4, 2006, and during that time, there was a resulting high temperature above 130 °C (266 °F), significantly higher than the magnetometers were designed to endure, and a sensor rotated away from the correct orientation.¹⁰⁷

On August 30, 2007, Voyager 2 passed the termination shock and then entered into the heliosheath, approximately 1 billion mi (1.6 billion km) closer to the Sun than Voyager 1 did.¹⁰⁸ This is due to the interstellar magnetic field of deep space. The southern hemisphere of the Solar System's heliosphere is being pushed in.¹⁰⁹

On April 22, 2010, Voyager 2 encountered scientific data format problems.¹¹⁰ On May 17, 2010, JPL engineers revealed that a flipped bit in an on-board computer had caused the problem, and scheduled a bit reset for May 19.¹¹¹ On May 23, 2010, Voyager 2 resumed sending science data from deep space after engineers fixed the flipped bit.¹¹²

In 2013, it was originally thought that Voyager 2 would enter interstellar space in two to three years, with its plasma spectrometer providing the first direct measurements of the density and temperature of the interstellar plasma. But the Voyager project scientist, Edward C. Stone and his colleagues said they lacked evidence of what would be the key signature of interstellar space: a shift in the direction of the magnetic field.¹¹³ Finally, in December 2018, Stone announced that Voyager 2 reached interstellar space on November 5, 2018.¹¹⁴¹¹⁵

Maintenance to the Deep Space Network cut outbound contact with the probe for eight months in 2020. Contact was reestablished on November 2, when a series of instructions was transmitted, subsequently executed, and relayed back with a successful communication message.¹¹⁶ On February 12, 2021, full communications were restored after a major ground station antenna upgrade that took a year to complete.¹¹⁷

In October 2020, astronomers reported a significant unexpected increase in density in the space beyond the Solar System as detected by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2; this implies that "the density gradient is a large-scale feature of the VLISM (very local interstellar medium) in the general direction of the heliospheric nose".¹¹⁸¹¹⁹

On July 18, 2023, Voyager 2 overtook Pioneer 10 as the second farthest spacecraft from the Sun.¹²⁰¹²¹

On July 21, 2023, a programming error misaligned Voyager 2's high gain antenna¹²² 2 degrees away from Earth, breaking communications with the spacecraft. By August 1, the spacecraft's carrier signal was detected using multiple antennas of the Deep Space Network.¹²³¹²⁴ A high-power "shout" on August 4 sent from the Canberra station¹²⁵ successfully commanded the spacecraft to reorient towards Earth, resuming communications.¹²⁶¹²⁷ As a failsafe measure, the probe is also programmed to autonomously reset its orientation to point towards Earth, which would have occurred by October 15.¹²⁸

Reductions in capabilities

As the power from the RTG slowly reduces, various items of equipment have been turned off on the spacecraft.¹²⁹ The first science equipment turned off on Voyager 2 was the PPS in 1991, which saved 1.2 watts.¹³⁰

Concerns with the orientation thrusters

Some thrusters needed to control the correct attitude of the spacecraft and to point its high-gain antenna in the direction of Earth are out of use due to clogging problems in their hydrazine injector. The spacecraft no longer has backups available for its thruster system and "everything onboard is running on single-string" as acknowledged by Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at JPL, in an interview with Ars Technica.¹⁴¹ NASA has decided to patch the computer software in order to modify the functioning of the remaining thrusters to slow down the clogging of the small diameter hydrazine injector jets. Before uploading the software update on the Voyager 1 computer, NASA will first try the procedure with Voyager 2, which is closer to Earth.¹⁴²

Future of the probe

The probe is expected to keep transmitting weak radio messages until at least the mid-2020s, more than 48 years after it was launched.¹⁴³ NASA says that "The Voyagers are destined—perhaps eternally—to wander the Milky Way."¹⁴⁴

Voyager 2 is not headed toward any particular star. The nearest star is 4.2 light-years away, and at 15.341 km/s, the spacecraft travels one light-year in about 19,541 years - during which time the nearby stars will also move substantially. In roughly 42,000 years, Voyager 2 will pass the star Ross 248 (10.30 light-years away from Earth) at a distance of 1.7 light-years.¹⁴⁵ If undisturbed for 296,000 years, Voyager 2 should pass by the star Sirius (8.6 light-years from Earth) at a distance of 4.3 light-years.¹⁴⁶

Golden record

Main article: Voyager Golden Record

Both Voyager space probes carry a gold-plated audio-visual disc, a compilation meant to showcase the diversity of life and culture on Earth in the event that either spacecraft is ever found by any extraterrestrial discoverer.¹⁴⁷¹⁴⁸ The record, made under the direction of a team including Carl Sagan and Timothy Ferris, includes photos of the Earth and its lifeforms, a range of scientific information, spoken greetings from people such as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the United States and a medley, "Sounds of Earth", that includes the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a collection of music spanning different cultures and eras including works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Blind Willie Johnson, Chuck Berry and Valya Balkanska. Other Eastern and Western classics are included, as well as performances of indigenous music from around the world. The record also contains greetings in 55 different languages.¹⁴⁹ The project aimed to portray the richness of life on Earth and stand as a testament to human creativity and the desire to connect with the cosmos.¹⁵⁰¹⁵¹

See also

• Astronomy portal
• Stars portal
• Spaceflight portal
• Outer space portal
• Solar System portal

• Family Portrait
• The Farthest, a 2017 documentary on the Voyager program.
• List of artificial objects leaving the Solar System
• List of missions to the outer planets
• New Horizons
• Pioneer 10
• Pioneer 11
• Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
• Voyager 1

Notes

Further reading

• "Saturn Science Results". Voyager Science Results at Saturn. Retrieved February 8, 2005.
• "Uranus Science Results". Voyager Science Results at Uranus. Retrieved February 8, 2005.
• Nardo, Don (2002). Neptune. Thomson Gale. ISBN 0-7377-1001-2
• JPL Voyager Telecom Manual

External links

• NASA Voyager website
• Voyager 2 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• Voyager 2 (NSSDC Master Catalog)

References

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