RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesThis montage shows examples of striking images of the solar system taken by Voyager 1 and 2 on their missions. NASA/JPL/Insider
Voyager 2 launched into the solar system 49 years ago on August 20, 1977.
Together with Voyager 1, the two probes are now billions of miles away from Earth.
Here are the extraordinary pictures the probes have taken during their journey through space.
Voyager 2, a pioneer in outer solar system exploration, left Earth for interstellar space 49 years ago, on August 20, 1977.
The twin of Voyager 1 , which left Earth only a few weeks after, is the only spacecraft to visit all four of the solar system's outer gas giants — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The Voyager probes were originally sent on a four-year mission to tour the solar system, but they exceeded expectations and are still going nearly half a century later. That makes them NASA's longest-lived mission, costing the agency more than $865 million.
The two probes have had their fair share of interstellar road bumps , which have only been exacerbated as the probes age. In 2022, Voyager 1 started sending garbled data from outside the solar system. NASA ultimately figured out that one of its computers had gone dead years earlier.
Voyager 2 fell into limbo in 2023, losing contact with NASA after someone sent a wrong command. The agency detected a faint signal from Voyager days later after blasting a "shout" across the cosmos to get the probe to point its antennae back to Earth and resume communication.
Come November 2026, Voyager 1 will be 16 billion miles — or one light-day — away from Earth. Voyager 2, meanwhile, will be more than 13.2 billion miles from Earth , traveling through interstellar space — the space between stars — at 34,000 mph relative to the Sun.
While both probes are losing about 4 watts of power each year, NASA continues to make efforts to keep them exploring.
In August, the agency announced it substituted some devices on Voyager 2 with "lower-power alternatives while ensuring the spacecraft remains warm enough to operate." This, it said, should keep the probe's instruments running for at least another year. NASA plans to make the same change for Voyager 1.
To celebrate Voyager 2's 49th birthday, here are 23 photos that show its history and what both probes have seen among the cosmos.
Voyager 2 launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in August 1977.
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft launched atop its Titan/Centaur-7 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on August 20, 1977, at 10:29 a.m. local time.. (Photo by: Hum Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) : Hum Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Voyager mission included two probes — Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 — which NASA launched in 1977 within a few weeks of each other. Voyager 1 launched on September 5, 1977.
NASA took advantage of a rare planet alignment to turbocharge the journeys into space. Voyager 1 overtook its twin shortly after launch, thanks to a faster flight path.
The Voyager probes carry 11 different scientific instruments to study planetary bodies, magnetic fields, and particles.
An annotated image shows the various parts and instruments of NASA's Voyager space probe. NASA/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
This annotated image shows the various parts and instruments of NASA's Voyager space probe.
The Voyager probes were designed to visit Jupiter and Saturn.
The voyager probes wizzed through the solar system taking unprecedented pictures. NASA
Voyager 2's mission saw all four gas giants.
This is what Voyager 1 saw on its approach to Jupiter.
A timelapse taken by Voyager 1 as it approached Jupiter in March 1979. NASA/JPL
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in 1979.
As they flew by the planet, they took about 50,000 pictures of Jupiter. These blew away scientists, as the quality of the pictures was much better than those taken from Earth, according to NASA.
These snaps taught scientists important facts about the planet's atmosphere, magnetic forces, and geology that would have been difficult to decipher otherwise.
The probes discovered two new moons orbiting Jupiter: Thebe and Metis.
Jupiter and two of its moons taken by Voyager NASA/JPL
Jupiter has over 100 known moons; its main four are Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Callisto.
They also spotted a thin ring around Jupiter.
A false color image of Jupiter's ring, discovered by Voyager. NASA/JPL
The probe captured this picture as it was looking back at the planet, backlit by the Sun.
Voyager 1 discovered volcanoes at the surface of Io, one of Jupiter's moons.
A picture taken by the Voyager probes uncovered volcanoes at the surface of Io. NASA/JPL
Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system.
Next stop: Saturn.
Three Voyager 2 images, taken through ultraviolet, violet and green filters, were combined to make this photograph. NASA/JPL
In 1980 and 1981, the probes reached Saturn . The flyby gave scientists unprecedented insight into the planet's ring structure, atmosphere, and moons.
Voyager snapped Saturn's rings in more detail than ever before.
Saturn's rings are shown in false color in a picture taken by a Voyager probe on August 23, 1981. NASA
Photos showed secrets that Enceladus, the sixth-biggest of Saturn's nearly 300 moons, had to offer.
Encheladus, one of Saturn's moons, seen by Voyager. NASA/JPL
Saturn, snapped as the probe flew away, was shown in a new light.
Voyager 1 looked back to Saturn on Nov 16, 1980 to give this unique perspective on its rings. NASA/JPL
By 1986, Voyager 2 had made it to Uranus.
Voyager 2 captured these images, in true colors (left) and false color (right) of Neptune in 1986. NASA/JPL
By 1986, Voyager 1 had finished its grand tour of the solar system and flew out toward interstellar space. But Voyager 2 kept on exploring our nearest planets, passing 50,600 miles away from Uranus in January 1986.&nb...
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