Voyager 1:2 Scale Model

Voyager 1:2 Scale Model

A half-scale model of the Voyager spacecraft. The Voyager mission consisted of two identical spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which were launched separately in 1977. A rare planetary alignment provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all in one mission. The Voyager spacecraft used each planet’s gravity to propel them to the next one. These gravity assists increased the velocity of the spacecraft. At the end of their tour of the planets, the spacecraft were travelling at more than 35,000 miles an hour. This caused them to overtake the Pioneer 10 spacecraft as the furthest human-made objects from Earth.

The first stage of the mission was to conduct close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn’s rings and both planet’s larger moons. A key target was Saturn’s moon Titan. One reason for having two spacecraft was to provide a spare should the first fail to observe Titan. It was important to scientists as it is the only moon in the solar system known to have a dense atmosphere, with conditions believed to be similar to the early Earth. Once Voyager 1 had completed its flyby of Titan, its tour of the planets ended as it headed straight for the edge of the Solar System. Voyager 2 continued to the outer planets and became the first spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune.

The Voyager mission revolutionised our knowledge of the outer planets and moons. The spacecraft made many surprising discoveries, such as volcanos on Jupiter’s moon Io and waves in Saturn’s rings caused by the pull of nearby moons. But the mission did not end there. The spacecraft continued to travel to the furthest reaches of our Solar System, first crossing the termination shock where the solar wind slows abruptly, then the heliopause, where the solar wind and interstellar wind meet, then finally into interstellar space. Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to reach interstellar space on 25 August 2012.