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Aug 26, 2019 · In the summer of 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to fly by Neptune, its final planetary encounter. Managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Voyagers 1 and 2 were a pair of spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets.
- Science@NASA
Voyager 2’s encounter with Neptune capped a 4.3 billion-mile...
- Planetary Voyage
In the summer of 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 became the first...
- Science@NASA
Aug 22, 2019 · Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system’s eighth.
Voyager 2’s encounter with Neptune capped a 4.3 billion-mile (7 billion-kilometer) journey when, on Aug. 25, 1989, at 03:56 UT, it flew about 2,980 miles (4,800 kilometers) over the cloud tops of the giant planet, the closest of its four flybys.
- United States of America (USA)
- 1,592 pounds (721.9 kilograms)
- Voyager 2
Voyager 2 discovered previously unknown Neptunian rings, [64] and confirmed six new moons: Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Naiad and Thalassa. [65] [C] 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. [66]
- Voyager 2 Passes by Neptune, 35 Years Ago
- Voyager 2 Also Visited Triton
- Voyager 2 Onward to Interstellar Space
- Getting There
- Receiving The Radio Signals from Neptune
- Being There
- Voyagers Were Successful and Continue Today
Thirty-five years ago, on August 25, 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune. It gave humanity its 1st close-up of our solar system’s 8th planet. It also marked the end of the Voyager mission’s Grand Tour of the solar system’s 4 giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. No other spacecraft has visited Neptune since...
During the encounter, the engineering team carefully changed the probe’s direction and speed so that it could do a close flyby of the planet’s largest moon, Triton. The flyby showed evidence of geologically young surfaces and active geysers spewing material skyward. This indicated that Triton was not simply a solid ball of ice even though it had th...
The conclusion of the Neptune flyby marked the beginning of the Voyager Interstellar Mission. Forty-seven years after launch, Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1 (which had also flown by Jupiter and Saturn), continue to send back dispatchesfrom the outer reaches of our solar system. At the time of the Neptune encounter, Voyager 2 was about 2.9 billio...
By the time Voyager 2 reached Neptune, the Voyager mission team had completed five planetary encounters. But the big blue planet still posed unique challenges. Neptune is about 30 times farther from the sun than Earth. So, the icy giant receives only about 0.001 times the amount of sunlight that Earth does. In such low light, Voyager 2’s camera req...
The probe’s distance meant by the time radio signals from Voyager 2 reached Earth, they were weaker than other flybys. But the spacecraft had the advantage of time. The Voyagers communicate with Earth via the Deep Space Network, or DSN, which utilizes several radio antennas. They are in Madrid, Spain; Canberra, Australia; and Goldstone, California....
In the week leading up to that August 1989 close encounter, the atmosphere was electric at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which manages the Voyager mission. As images taken by Voyager 2 during its Neptune approach made the four-hour journey to Earth, Voyager team members would crowd around computer monitors around the Lab...
Of course, the Voyagers’ achievements extend far beyond that historic week over three decades ago. Both probes have now entered interstellar space after exiting the heliosphere, the protective bubble around the planets created by a high-speed flow of particles and magnetic fields spewed outward by our sun. They are reporting back to Earth on the “w...
Voyager 2 discovered six new small moons orbiting Neptune's equatorial plane, dubbed Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa and Proteus. Three of Neptune's moons—Proteus, Nereid, and Triton —were photographed in detail, of which only the last two had been known prior to the visit.
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In the summer of 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe the planet Neptune, its final planetary target. Passing about 4,950 kilometers (3,000 miles) above Neptune's north pole, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to any planet 12 years after leaving Earth in 1977.
