The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before starting their journey toward interstellar space. Voyager 1 completed its Jupiter encounter in early April, after taking almost 19,000 pictures and many other scientific measurements. …
Why was Cassini destroyed?
The mission ended on September 15, 2017, when Cassini’s trajectory took it into Saturn’s upper atmosphere and it burned up in order to prevent any risk of contaminating Saturn’s moons, which might have offered habitable environments to stowaway terrestrial microbes on the spacecraft.
Is Voyager 1 still taking pictures?
There will be no more pictures; engineers turned off the spacecraft’s cameras, to save memory, in 1990, after Voyager 1 snapped the famous image of Earth as a “pale blue dot” in the darkness. Out there in interstellar space, where Voyager 1 roams, there’s “nothing to take pictures of,” Dodd said.
What did Voyager 1 discover?
Voyager 1 is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. Voyager 1 discovered a thin ring around Jupiter and two new Jovian moons: Thebe and Metis. At Saturn, Voyager 1 found five new moons and a new ring called the G-ring.
What has Cassini discovered about Saturn?
Cassini’s long mission enabled us to observe weather and seasonal changes on another planet. Cassini revealed Saturn’s moons to be unique worlds with their own stories to tell. Cassini showed us the complexity of Saturn’s rings and the dramatic processes operating within them.
How long has Cassini been exploring Saturn?
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has explored the Saturn system since 2004, re-writing our understanding of the giant planet, its rings, moons and magnetosphere. For 13 years the spacecraft’s incredible, truly otherworldly images have revealed the wonder of Saturn in surprising, often awe-inspiring ways.
What happened to Voyager 1 when it reached Saturn?
Voyager 1 completed its observations of the Saturn system on Dec. 14, 1980. approach and from 3.3 million miles away. On Feb. 14, 1990, more than 12 years after it began its journey from Earth and shortly before its cameras were permanently turned off to conserve power, Voyager 1 spun around and pointed them back into the solar system.
What was the purpose of the Cassini mission?
Cassini-Huygens was a mission of firsts. First to orbit Saturn. First landing in the outer solar system. First to sample an extraterrestrial ocean. Cassini expanded our understanding of the kinds of worlds where life might exist.
What is NASA’s Voyager mission?
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California managed the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter and Saturn.
