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Voyager II

Voyager 2
Voyager spacecraft.jpg
Voyager 2, artist's impression
Mission type Planetary exploration
Operator NASA / JPL
COSPAR ID 1977-076A
SATCAT no. 10271
Website voyager.jpl.nasa.gov
Mission duration 39 years, 8 months and 25 days elapsed
Planetary mission: 12 years, 1 month, 12 days
Interstellar mission: 27 years, 7 months and 13 days elapsed (continuing)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass 825.5 kilograms (1,820 lb)
Power 420 watts
Start of mission
Launch date August 20, 1977, 14:29:00 (1977-08-20UTC14:29Z) UTC
Rocket Titan IIIE
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-41
Flyby of Jupiter
Closest approach July 9, 1979, 22:29:00 UTC
Distance 570,000 kilometers (350,000 mi)
Flyby of Saturn
Closest approach August 25, 1981, 03:24:05 UTC
Distance 101,000 km (63,000 mi)
Flyby of Uranus
Closest approach January 24, 1986, 17:59:47 UTC
Distance 81,500 km (50,600 mi)
Flyby of Neptune
Closest approach August 25, 1989, 03:56:36 UTC
Distance 4,951 km (3,076 mi)
← Voyager 1
Galileo →

Voyager 2 is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets. Part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, Voyager 1, on a trajectory that took longer to reach Jupiter and Saturn but enabled further encounters with Uranus and Neptune. It is the only spacecraft to have visited either of the ice giants.

Its primary mission ended with the exploration of the Neptunian system on October 2, 1989, after having visited the Uranian system in 1986, the Saturnian system in 1981, and the Jovian system in 1979. Voyager 2 is now in its extended mission to study the outer reaches of the Solar System and has been operating for 39 years, 8 months and 25 days. It remains in contact through the Deep Space Network.

At a distance of 114 AU (1.71×1010 km) from the Sun as of April 5th, 2017,Voyager 2 is one of the most distant human-made objects, along with Voyager 1, New Horizons, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. The probe was moving at a velocity of 15.4 km/s (55,000 km/h) relative to the Sun as of December 2014 and is traveling through the heliosheath. Upon reaching interstellar space, Voyager 2 is expected to provide the first direct measurements of the density and temperature of the interstellar plasma.


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