3.6 Flying Out of the Solar System
187
Voyager-1 was greatly accelerated by the gravity assist, eventually catching up with
the Voyager-2 before flying over the Jupiter and Saturn. The Voyager-1 flew by
the Jupiter, measuring the Jupiter’s magnetic field, magnetosphere, atmosphere and
inner structure, discovering its aurora, rings and five new moons, and investigating
in detail its Galilean moons. With the gravity assist trajectory at the Jupiter, the
Voyager-1 successfully visited the Saturn, detecting complex structures of its rings,
investigating its atmosphere and its giant moon Titan, and discovering new dynamic
phenomenon. 22 moons of the Saturn together constituted a complex system of
motion, which showed that the giant planet has its own power, and there was a sea of
liquid hydrogen on its surface. The Voyager-2 flew over the Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune for exploration. It measured the Uranus’ atmosphere and magnetic
field, correcting its rotation period and inner structural model, and discovering its
10 moons and 11 rings. It measured the Neptune’s magnetic field, magnetosphere
and inner structure, discovering the Great Dark Spot on its surface, verifying its five
rings and six new moons, and investigating its moon Triton. After completing the
explorations of the outer planets, both the Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 then left the
solar system respectively in different directions, and sailed into interstellar space.
Considering the special alignment among Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that
occurs once every 176 years, the launch window was chosen in 1977 for the Voyagers.
In this way, the spacecrafts could be accelerated by using the gravity assist from the
giant planets, and only need a small amount fuel for adjusting orbits, so they would
visit four giant planets of the outer solar system. In order to take advantage of this
opportunity, the specially-designed Voyager probes took only 12 years to complete
the missions that four outer planets were visited successively. Otherwise, it needs to
take 30 years to achieve such explorations.
The specific flight paths and key events of the Voyager-1 were as follows:
(1) At 12:56:00 UTC on September 5, 1977, by using the Titan IIIE rocket, the
Voyager-1 was launched from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral,
Florida. On December 10, it arrived in the asteroid belt between the Mars and
Jupiter. On December 19, it surpassed the Voyager-2 which was launched two
weeks earlier.
(2) On September 8, 1978, the Voyager-1 flew out of the asteroid belt.
(3) On January 6, 1979, the Voyager-1 flew by the Jupiter for the exploration. On
March 5, it reached about 349,000 km away from the Jupiter’s center, which
was the closest approach to the Jupiter. In the Meantime, it also photographed
the volcanic eruption of the Jupiter’s moon Io. The eruption plume of the
volcano Loki rose 160 km over the limb of the Io.
(4) On August 22, 1980, the Voyager-1 flew by the Saturn for the exploration.
On November 12, it reached the closest approach to the Saturn, 124,000 km
away from the Saturn’s cloud-tops. On December 14, it started the extended
exploration missions.
(5) On February 14, 1990, the Voyager-1 took the first ever family portrait of the
solar system as seen from outside, including the Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune. Soon afterwards, to conserve power and computer
187
Voyager-1 was greatly accelerated by the gravity assist, eventually catching up with
the Voyager-2 before flying over the Jupiter and Saturn. The Voyager-1 flew by
the Jupiter, measuring the Jupiter’s magnetic field, magnetosphere, atmosphere and
inner structure, discovering its aurora, rings and five new moons, and investigating
in detail its Galilean moons. With the gravity assist trajectory at the Jupiter, the
Voyager-1 successfully visited the Saturn, detecting complex structures of its rings,
investigating its atmosphere and its giant moon Titan, and discovering new dynamic
phenomenon. 22 moons of the Saturn together constituted a complex system of
motion, which showed that the giant planet has its own power, and there was a sea of
liquid hydrogen on its surface. The Voyager-2 flew over the Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune for exploration. It measured the Uranus’ atmosphere and magnetic
field, correcting its rotation period and inner structural model, and discovering its
10 moons and 11 rings. It measured the Neptune’s magnetic field, magnetosphere
and inner structure, discovering the Great Dark Spot on its surface, verifying its five
rings and six new moons, and investigating its moon Triton. After completing the
explorations of the outer planets, both the Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 then left the
solar system respectively in different directions, and sailed into interstellar space.
Considering the special alignment among Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that
occurs once every 176 years, the launch window was chosen in 1977 for the Voyagers.
In this way, the spacecrafts could be accelerated by using the gravity assist from the
giant planets, and only need a small amount fuel for adjusting orbits, so they would
visit four giant planets of the outer solar system. In order to take advantage of this
opportunity, the specially-designed Voyager probes took only 12 years to complete
the missions that four outer planets were visited successively. Otherwise, it needs to
take 30 years to achieve such explorations.
The specific flight paths and key events of the Voyager-1 were as follows:
(1) At 12:56:00 UTC on September 5, 1977, by using the Titan IIIE rocket, the
Voyager-1 was launched from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral,
Florida. On December 10, it arrived in the asteroid belt between the Mars and
Jupiter. On December 19, it surpassed the Voyager-2 which was launched two
weeks earlier.
(2) On September 8, 1978, the Voyager-1 flew out of the asteroid belt.
(3) On January 6, 1979, the Voyager-1 flew by the Jupiter for the exploration. On
March 5, it reached about 349,000 km away from the Jupiter’s center, which
was the closest approach to the Jupiter. In the Meantime, it also photographed
the volcanic eruption of the Jupiter’s moon Io. The eruption plume of the
volcano Loki rose 160 km over the limb of the Io.
(4) On August 22, 1980, the Voyager-1 flew by the Saturn for the exploration.
On November 12, it reached the closest approach to the Saturn, 124,000 km
away from the Saturn’s cloud-tops. On December 14, it started the extended
exploration missions.
(5) On February 14, 1990, the Voyager-1 took the first ever family portrait of the
solar system as seen from outside, including the Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune. Soon afterwards, to conserve power and computer