The Untold Secrets of Voyager 2: Still Exploring after 45 Years

Voyager 2, was the first of two twin probes NASA sent to investigate the outer planets of our solar system. The probe was launched aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 (previously Launch Complex 41) on Aug. 20, 1977, its twin spacecraft Voyager 1 was launched about two weeks later on Sept. 5. NASA planned for the Voyager spacecraft to take advantage of an alignment of the outer planets that takes place only every 176 years. The alignment would allow both probes to swing from one planet to the next, with a gravity boost to help them along the way. While Voyager 1 focused on Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 2 visited both those planets and also ventured to Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2’s mission to those last two planets would be humanity’s only visit in the 20th century