Voyager 2
Voyager 2 was one of a pair of spacecrafts (the other was Voyager 1) launched to explore the planets of the outer solar system and the interplanetary environment. Its objectives at each planet were to: investigate dynamics, structure, and composition of the planet's atmosphere; characterize the morphology, geology, and physical state of the satellites of the planet; provide information on the mass, size, and shape of the planet, its satellites, and any rings; and, determine the magnetic field of the planet. The mission was estimated to cost several hundred millions of dollars.
Voyager 2 is speeding away from the Sun at a velocity of about 3.13 AU/year (1AU (Astronomical unit 150 millions of kilometers). Communications with the spacecraft are provided through a high-gain antenna with a low-gain antenna for backup. Data could be stored for later transmission to Earth through the use of an on-board digital tape recorder. In order carry out the complex sequences of spacecraft motions and instrument operations, three interconnected on-board computers were utilized.
The spacecraft system and its instruments are powered through the use of three thermoelectric generators using radioactive source (Plutonium-238 in the form of plutonium oxide which, as it decayed, gave off heat). A thermoelectric device is used to convert the heat to electric power which slowly decreases with time as the radioactive material is expended. While the initial (at launch) power output of the generators was about 470 Watts of 30 V DC current, it had fallen off to about 335 W by 1997 (about 20 years after the launch). It is believed that despite the decrease of the electric power of the generators, some limited instrument operations on the spacecraft can be carried out at least until 2020.
Voyager 2 was launched before Voyager 1, with liftoff occurring 20 August 1977, but on 15 December 1977, while both spacecraft were in the asteroid belt, Voyager 1 surpassed Voyager 2 distance from the Sun. Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter (closest approach on 09 July 1979) and Saturn (05 August 1981). During these flybys, Voyager 2 obtained images roughly equal in number to Voyager 1 (18,000 at Jupiter, 16,000 at Saturn). The spacecraft then went to flybys of Uranus (24 January 1986) and Neptune (25 August 1989). Voyager 2 obtained about 8,000 images of Uranus and its satellites, and about 10,000 images of Neptune and its satellites.
Astronautics faculty Dr. Jerry Hintz worked on Staff of the Voyager Flight Engineering Office for the Neptune Encounter, and Dr. Don Shemansky worked on designing instrument measuring ultraviolet radiation in space.
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The Golden Record plaque (“Message in the bottle”)
attached to sides of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2
spacecrafts.
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Voyager 2 spacecraft moving towards the giant outer
planets in our solar system.
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