VOYAGER 2

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VOYAGER 2
Daniel Merritt
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Origins

• Voyager 2 is an unmanned and still active space
  probe, currently flying out of our solar system
  as we speak!
• launched on August 20th, 1977
• Voyager 2 and its sister probe, Voyager 1, were
  designed, developed, and built at the Jet
  Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

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Launch Issues

• Voyager 2 was launched using a Titan IIIE rocket
• During the takeoff, Voyager 2s on board sensors
  became confused
• Activating its backup sensors, if it had had
  control over the thrusters, it would have crashed
  itself trying to correct the trajectory
• Luckily, the issue was resolved moments before
  the separation

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More Issues

• However, it continued to sense phantom
  emergencies only 1 hour after launch
• Voyager 2s on board thrusters were activated as
  it attempted to locate the sun with a light
  sensor for orientation purposes
• The worst result of the frantic computer activity
  was the activation of the fault protection, the
  last line of defense in case of a deep space
  trajectory malfunction
• Although the probe recovered control, it was
  running on backup sensors, backup radio
  receivers, and could no longer activate the
  emergency fault protection, if needed
• So far, there have been no major issues beyond
  that exciting launch day

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Voyager 2 utilized the gravity slingshot method
to catapultitself to the furthest planets and
eventually beyond the Heliosphere That
configuration of the planets only occurs once
every 176 years!
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Major Discoveries Jupiter
The Great Red Spot is a persistent storm complex
rotating counter clockwise New rings Three new
satellites The most exciting discovery is that of
active volcanism on the moon Io the first of
its kind observed in the solar system!
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Major Discoveries Saturn

• Voyager 2 was primarily concerned with
  radiography and density mapping of Saturns
  atmosphere
• Possible seasonal polar temperature differences
  were detected
• The average temperatures at various depths were
  also recorded
• After a slight camera lubricant issue, it was
  cleared to move on to Uranus

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Major Discoveries Uranus

• Discovered 10 previously unknown moons of Uranus
• Studied the planet's unique atmosphere, caused by
  its axial tilt of 97.8
• Examined the Uranian ring system
• Examined the corkscrew magnetic field effects

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Major Discoveries Neptune

• Discovery of the Great Dark Spot
• Studied the planet's atmospheric composition
• Heavily examined the previously known moon,
  Triton, in great detail
• Found that the Planet X Effect was in fact caused
  by a miscalculation of Neptunes mass, 0.5 too
  high (about the mass of Mars)

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12 years? Is that all?

• Voyager 2 completed its last planetary flyby in
  1989
• It flung itself out into deep space, south of the
  ecliptic
• Continuing to float through space, momentum
  uninhibited by pesky forces, Voyager 2 commences
  its final task attempting to leave the
  Heliosphere, and the entire solar system

On August 30th, 2007 Voyager 2 passed
the termination shock into the Heliosheath
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So now what?

• Voyager 2 is expected to keep transmitting weak
  radio messages until at least 2025, over 48 years
  since it was launched
• As of April 13, 2010, Voyager 2 was at a distance
  of around 91.898 AU from the Sun, and traveling
  outward at roughly 3.264 AU per year

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