Ayus rahara[

Crade 11

voyagei Nissions
1 When |aunched and why?
@he voyager 1 was launched on SepLember 3 from Lhe Cape Canaveral aboard a @LanCenLaur
rockeL @he voyager 2 was launched on AugusL 20 1977 from Cape Canaveral llorda aboard
Lhe same rockeL
@he msson's prmary ob[ecLve was essenLally Lo furLher exLend Lhe nASA exploraLon of Lhe
solar sysLem beyond Lhe neghborhood of Lhe ouLer planeLs Lo Lhe ouLer lmLs of Lhe Sun's
sphere of nfluence and possbly beyond" Powever now Lhe msson s exLended for
characLerng Lhe ouLer solar sysLem envronmenL n order Lo deLecL Lhe presence of helopause
boundary Lhe ouLer lmLs of Lhe Sun's magneLc feld and ouLward flow of Lhe solar wnd"


What d|d they do?
@he prmary msson aL Lhe ouLseL as menLoned above was Lhe exploraLon of !upLer and
SaLurn Powever when voyager 1 spacecrafL capLured very surprsng and smulLaneously
nLrgung mages of !upLer and Ls moons as well as SaLurn's rngs Lhe nASA decded Lo exLend
Lhe nformaLon furLher @hey decded Lo exLend Lhe msson Lo Lhe nexL Lwo planeLs nepLune
and uranus @he voyager 2 was launched for Lhe above purpose and Lll daLe L s Lhe only
spacecrafL Lo have vsLed Lhose ouLer planeLs" CurrenLly Lhe purpose of Lhe msson has shfLed
Lo explorng Lhe ouLermosL edge of Lhe Sun's doman" whch s Lhe Pelopause


What path d|d they take and what |s grav|ty s||ngshot?
@he paLhs LhaL boLh Lhe voyagers Look were more or less Lhe same 8oLh Lhe voyagers passed
Lhrough Lhe planeLs of !upLer and SaLurn however snce Lhe msson was exLended furLher Lo
planeLs uranus and nepLune voyager 2 conLnued Ls movemenL and also passed Lhrough Lhe
Lwo planeLs AL presenL voyager 2 s conLnung Ls [ourney onLo Lhe ouLermosL layer of Lhe
helosphere whereas voyager 1 s sad Lo already have gone pasL L
A gravLy slngshoL s essenLally Lhe use of energy from Lhe gravLaLonal felds of Lhe celesLal
bodes (mosLly planeLs) Lo help Lrgger Lhe speed of a spacecrafL @here s no ar n Lhe space
and hence Lhere s no force acLng agansL Lhe moLon of Lhe spacecrafL ln such a scenaro
when Lhe gravLy of oLher planeLs helps ncrease Lhe speed of Lhe spacecrafL L moves aL a fasLer
raLe wLhouL anyLhng hnderng Ls speed or acLng agansL/n Lhe opposLe drecLon of Lhe
spacecrafL's moLon ln Lhs case Lhe voyagers used gravLy slngshoL Lhanks Lo Lhe presence of
sLrong gravLaLonal felds n planeLs !upLer and SaLurn LhaL Lrggered Lher speeds and Lherefore
asssLed Lher movemenL furLher Lowards Lhe helopause



Ayus rahara[
Crade 11

Where are they now and where are they go|ng?
As of March 2010 voyager 1 s aL a dsLance of 169 bllon klomeLers (approxmaLely 113
AsLronomcal unL Lhe fgures are changng everyday Lhe dsLance s ncreasng everyday) away
from Lhe Sun and s escapng Lhe solar sysLem aL a speed of 36 Au (AsLronomcal unL) per year
voyager 2 on Lhe oLher hand s aL a dsLance of 137 bllon klomeLers (approx 92 Au Lhe
dsLance s ncreasng everyday) away from Lhe Sun and s escapng Lhe Solar SysLem aL a speed
of 33 Au per year
8oLh Lhe voyagers are n Lhe PelosheaLh" whch s essenLally Lhe ouLermosL layer of Lhe
helosphere @he helosphere s where Lhe solar wnd s slowed by Lhe pressure of nLersLellar gas
@hey are headng Lowards Lhe exLeror/ouLer boundary of Lhe solar sysLem for Lhe purpose of
spoLLng helopause (Lhe regon where Lhe Sun's nfluence wanes and Lhe begnnng of
nLersLellar space can be sensed")

hoose your favor|te p|cture from the m|ss|ons and ta|k about |t why s|gn|f|cant? Why d|d
you p|ck |t?
@hs s my favorLe pcLure (Laken from voyager 1)
from Lhe mssons and L s very mperaLve snce L
explans Lhe exsLence of volcanc acLvLy on !upLer's
moon lo Accordng Lo varous sources as well Lhe
phoLo helps nASA make one of Lhe mosL surprsng
dscoveres n Lhe !ovan sysLem Lhe presence of
volcanc acLvLy n moon lo snce L had noL been
observed n any oLher nASA pro[ecLs ncludng
oneer 10 (a roboLc space probe launched by nASA
Lo sLudy Lhe asLerod belL and Lhe envronmenL
around !upLer)