What About Voyager 2?

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Recently, in the news all the focus has been on Voyager 1’s exit of our solar system. It is now flying on into unknown and unexplored space. It is the hero. A soaring symbol of humanity’s curiosity and accomplishment. What about Voyager 2? You do know Voyager 1 has a twin, right? In 1977, NASA launched both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 into space with missions to explore the Jovian planets and the outer reaches of the Solar System.

Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 1 did not discover volcanoes or the Great Red spot on Jupiter. Voyager 1 did not sample Saturn’s atmosphere, providing vital information regarding the gases that compose this great ringed planet, nor did Voyager 1 plunge on towards Uranus and Neptune to  discover the effects of Uranus’ drastic tilt on its magnetic field and it certainly did not photograph the Great Dark Spot on the surface of Neptune. That was all Voyager 2. Even though it may be the slower of the twin spacecraft, moving at 15.428 km/s, it has definitely provided more scientific observation and discovery than its speedier twin. While the attention is on Voyager 1 for leaving our solar system we must remember its better and slower half because Voyager 2 is not far behind.

Although it is fun to pit these spacecraft together as competitive twins, that is not the point. They may be two separate machines, but their goal and intent is the same. They were sent as a team to probe the unknown, to push the limits of human exploration far beyond anything attempted in history. They have accomplished this mission, as a team, and they will continue to soar out into interstellar space, one closely trailing the other, as loyal twins.

Sources

Voyager 2.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2>.

“The Mission.” Voyager. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/index.html>.

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