MEMPHIS, Tenn (WMC) – NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977 and continue to transmit data to Earth in 2020
In 1979 Voyager 1 discovered the first active volcanoes on Jupiter Lo’s moon and discovered that the big red spot was in fact a huge cyclonic storm This mission also discovered lightning on Jupiter, which was the first time for a world other than Earth The following year in 1980 Voyager 1 flew over Saturn and discovered 3 of Saturn’s moons
Initially, Voyager 1 and 2 were to make close passes through Jupiter and Saturn Voyager 2 also flew over Uranus and Neptune before NASA turned off its camera in 1989
Voyager 1 took one last photo, titled Family Portrait of the Solar System, before turning off the camera in 1990 By turning off the camera, NASA is still able to receive important data on the solar wind and the Voyagers interstellar space
In 1998 Voyager 1 became the farthest man-made object from Earth in space.Then in 2012, it became the first spacecraft to move through interstellar space and detect the intensity of cosmic rays as well as interstellar magnetic field measurements Voyager 2 entered interstellar space in 2018
Although Voyager 2 is technically still running, NASA cannot receive updates due to a critical update to the radio antenna on Earth.However, Voyager is still able to transmit data, such as cosmic ray data
Meteorologist Brittney Bryant was born and raised in Memphian After reporting tropical storms on the east coast and chasing tornadoes across the plains, Brittney’s dream of becoming a meteorologist in her hometown came true You can watch his weekday mornings on WMC Action News 5 from 4.30am to 7am
Voyager 2, NASA, Voyager program, Voyager 1
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