Gary Flandro, Voyager mission grand tour creator, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Alan Cummings, Voyager researcher, Caltech, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, speaks about the last image of Earth from the Voyager spacecraft, at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Suzy Dodd, Voyager project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, gives opening remarks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, gives opening remarks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, speaks on a panel at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, gives opening remarks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, is interviewed prior to serving on a panel at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, gives opening remarks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
An audience member asks a question at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, speaks on a panel at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Eric Zirnstein, researcher, Princeton University, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Morgan Cable, researcher, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Gary Knell, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, gives opening remarks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, speaks at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
William Shatner of Star Trek, is seen on a live feed from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, giving the order to send a message into deep space, during an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey
Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, right, speaks on a panel with Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, left, at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, speaks on a panel with moderator Victoria Jaggard, National Geographic Magazine science editor, left, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, right; and Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, not pictured, at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Dr. David H. Grinspoon, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, speaks about working on NASA's Voyager team while serving as moderator for a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Gary Flandro, Voyager mission grand tour creator, speaks on a panel at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Matthew Shindell, curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), far left, moderates a panel including, from left to right, Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist; Gary Flandro, Voyager mission grand tour creator; Alan Cummings, Voyager researcher; Suzy Dodd, Voyager project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Ann Druyan, writer/producer, Golden Record Visionary during a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at NASM in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Matthew Shindell, curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), far left, moderates a panel including, from left to right, Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist; Gary Flandro, Voyager mission grand tour creator; Alan Cummings, Voyager researcher; Suzy Dodd, Voyager project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Ann Druyan, writer/producer, Golden Record Visionary during a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at NASM in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator on NASA's New Horizons Mission, left, delivers closing remarks following a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator on NASA's New Horizons Mission, delivers closing remarks following a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. Fran Bagenal, senior scientist at the University of Colorado, far right, speaks during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. John Spencer, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, answers a question from the audience during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. Fran Bagenal, senior scientist at the University of Colorado, speaks during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. Bonnie Buratti, senior scientist at NASA's Jet Propultion Laboratory, speaks during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. John Spencer, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, speaks during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. John Spencer, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, left, Dr. Jeffrey Moore, senior scientist at NASA Ames Researh Center, center, and Dr. David H. Grinspoon, senior scientist at the Plentary Science Institute, left, are seen during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Victoria Jaggard, National Geographic Magazine science editor, left, moderates a panel discussion with, Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, second from left; Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, second from right; and Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, right, at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Panelists, from left to right, Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist; Victoria Jaggard, National Geographic Magazine science editor and moderator for the panel; Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate; and Ann Druyan, writer/producer and golden record visionary, visit in the green room before speaking at an event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, with a mission to study Jupiter and Saturn, but now the twin Voyager spacecrafts are on a journey into interstellar space to search for the heliopause, a region never reached by any other spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
New Horizons science team members: Dr. John Spencer, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, left, Dr. Jeffrey Moore, senior scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, second from left, Dr. David H. Grinspoon, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, center, Dr. Bonnie Buratti, senior scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, second from right, and Dr. Fran Bagenal, senior scientist at the University of Colorado, are seen during a panel discussion at the "NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission: Continuing Voyager's Legacy of Exploration" event on Monday, August, 25, 2014, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The panelists gave their accounts of Voyager's encounter with Neptune and discussed their current assignments on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Audience members view images of Neptune taken by Voyager while scientists discuss how the first images of Pluto and its moons will be captured during the "New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt" Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Monday, August 25, 2014. The New Horizons spacecraft launched on January 19, 2006 will conduct a five month long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons starting in the summer of 2015. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
The set of graphs on the left illustrates the drop in electrical current detected in three directions by Voyager 2's plasma science experiment (PLS) to background levels. They are among the key pieces of data that Voyager scientists used to determine that Voyager 2 entered interstellar space, the space between stars, in November 2018. The disappearance in electrical current in the sunward-looking detectors indicates the spacecraft is no longer in the outward flow of solar wind plasma. It is instead in a new plasma environment -- interstellar medium plasma. The image on the right shows the Faraday cups of the PLS. The three sunward pointed cups point in slightly different directions in order to measure the direction of the solar wind. The fourth cup (on the upper left) points perpendicular to the others. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22922
This set of graphs illustrates how data from two key instruments point to NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft entering interstellar space, or the space between the stars, in November 2018. The top two plots come from the plasma science experiment (PLS). The plasma -- or ionized gas -- of interstellar space is significantly denser than the plasma inside the bubble of plasma the Sun blows around itself (the heliosphere). There is a jump on the graph in November 2018. At the same time, the measurements show that the outward speed (radial velocity) of the plasma the Sun is blowing (also known as the solar wind) sharply decreased. The bottom two plots come from the cosmic ray subsystem, which counts hits per second of higher-energy particles that originate from outside the solar bubble and lower-energy particles that originate from inside the solar bubble. The outsideparticles (also known as galactic cosmic rays or GCRs) increased and the inside particles (greater than 0.5 MeV) decreased at the same time the plasma science instrument detected its changes. The horizontal axis proceeds according to the numbered days of the year in 2018. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22923
These graphs compare data from identical instruments onboard NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft as they each exited the heliosphere. Voyager 1 exited in 2012, and Voyager 2 exited in 2018. The cosmic ray subsystem (CRS) measures the rate of energetic particles hitting the radiation detector on the instrument. The top graph shows high energy particles (called cosmic rays) that originate outside the heliosphere. The CRS instruments on both spacecraft observed similar, but not identical, increases in the cosmic ray rate as they both crossed the heliopause (the outer edge of the heliosphere). The lower graph shows slightly lower energy particles that originate inside the heliosphere. Both spacecraft detected a similar but not identical decrease in these lower energy particles when they crossed the heliopause and immediately after. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22916
This artist concept of NASA Voyager spacecraft with its antennapointing to Earth.
This illustration of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft shows the location of the onboard science instruments that are still operating: the magnetometer, the cosmic ray subsystem, the plasma science experiment, the low-energy charged particle instrument and the antennas used by the plasma wave subsystem. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22915
At the end of 2018, the cosmic ray subsystem (CRS) aboard NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft provided evidence that Voyager 2 had left the heliosphere (the plasma bubble the Sun blows around itself). There were steep drops in the rate at which particles that originate inside the heliosphere hit the instrument's radiation detector. At the same time, there were significant increases in the rate at which particles that originate outside our heliosphere (also known as galactic cosmic rays) hit the detector. The graphs show data from Voyager 2's CRS, which averages the number of particle hits over a six-hour block of time. CRS detects both lower-energy particles that originate inside the heliosphere (greater than 0.5 MeV) and higher-energy particles that originate farther out in the galaxy (greater than 70 MeV). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22924
This graphic shows the position of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, relative to the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the Sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto. Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause, or the edge of the heliosphere, in 2012. Voyager 2 is still in the heliosheath, or the outermost part of the heliosphere. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22566
Data from the camera onboard NASA Juno mission, called JunoCam, will be made available to the public for processing into their own images. Illustrated here with an image of Jupiter taken by NASA Voyager mission.
Dr. Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, speaks on a panel at the "New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt" Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Monday, August 25, 2014. Scientists discussed how the first images of Pluto and its moons would be captured by the New Horizons spacecraft during a five month long reconnaissance flyby study starting in the summer of 2015. New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006 and is scheduled to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
This artist's concept puts solar system distances -- and the travels of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft -- in perspective. The scale bar is in astronomical units, with each set distance beyond 1 AU representing 10 times the previous distance. One AU is the distance from the Sun to Earth, which is about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers. Neptune, the most distant planet from the Sun, is about 30 AU. Much of the solar system is actually in interstellar space. Informally, the term "solar system" is often used to mean the space out to the last planet. Scientific consensus, however, says the solar system goes out to the Oort Cloud, the source of the comets that swing by our sun on long time scales. Beyond the outer edge of the Oort Cloud, the gravity of other stars begins to dominate that of the Sun. The inner edge of the main part of the Oort Cloud could be as close as 1,000 AU from our Sun. The outer edge is estimated to be around 100,000 AU. Voyager 2, the second farthest human-made object after Voyager 1, is around 119 AU from the Sun. Indications from the scientific instruments suggest Voyager 2 passed beyond our heliosphere (the bubble of plasma the Sun blows around itself) and into interstellar space (the space between stars) in November 2018. The heliosphere has a turbulent outer boundary known as the heliosheath. The termination shock is the inner boundary of the heliosheath and the heliopause is the outer boundary, beyond which lies interstellar space. Voyager 2 crossed the termination shock at 84 AU in August 2007. It will take about 300 years for Voyager 2 to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud and possibly about 30,000 years to fly beyond it. Voyager 2 is heading away from the Sun about 36 degrees out of the ecliptic plane (plane of the planets) to the south, toward the constellations of Sagittarius and Pavo. In about 40,000 years, Voyager 2 will be closer to another star than our own Sun, coming within about 1.7 light years of a star called Ross 248, a small star in the constellation of Andromeda. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22921
This illustration shows the position of NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, outside of the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the Sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto. Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause, or the edge of the heliosphere, in August 2012. Heading in a different direction, Voyager 2 crossed another part of the heliopause in November 2018. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22835
The southern hemisphere of Saturn moon Dione is seen in this polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available clear-filter images from NASA Cassini and Voyager missions.
The northern and southern hemispheres of Dione are seen in these polar stereographic maps of the north pole, mosaicked from the best-available clear-filter images from NASA Cassini and Voyager missions.
This map composed of images NASA Galileo and Voyager missions shows the hemisphere of Europa that might be affected by plume deposits. The view is centered at -65 degrees latitude, 183 degrees longitude.
The northern hemisphere of Saturn moon Dione is seen in this polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available clear-filter images from NASA Cassini and Voyager missions.
The northern and southern hemispheres of Dione are seen in these polar stereographic maps of the south pole, mosaicked from the best-available clear-filter images from NASA Cassini and Voyager missions.
This global map of Saturn moon Dione was created using images taken during flybys by NASA Cassini spacecraft. Images from NASA Voyager mission fill the gaps in Cassini coverage.
NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, are traveling through interstellar space at around 35,000 mph (56,000 kph). This artist's concept depicts one of the probes speeding away. The Voyager spacecraft were built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which continues to operate both. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26353
The Voyager 1 aboard the Titan III/Centaur lifted off on September 5, 1977, joining its sister spacecraft, the Voyager 2, on a mission to the outer planets.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Voyager-1 was launched atop Titan_Centaur-6 at Launch Complex 41 at 8:56 a.m. EDT today, joining its sister spacecraft, Voyager-2, on a mission to the outer planets.
Saturn Voyager Mission Artwork with instruments and parts labeled
Voyager Saturn Mission Artwork (Mariner - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus) show slingshot technique
Orbiter Discovery approaches runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful 3.6-million-mile voyage on mission STS-95
Orbiter Discovery gets ready to land on runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful 3.6-million-mile voyage on mission STS-95
Orbiter Discovery approaches runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful 3.6-million-mile voyage on mission STS-95
Orbiter Discovery touches down on runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful 3.6-million-mile voyage on mission STS-95
Orbiter Discovery gets ready to land on runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful 3.6-million-mile voyage on mission STS-95
Voyager II Imagery - Neptune: This image of clouds in Neptune's atmosphere is the first that tests the accuracy of the weather forecast that was made eight days earlier to select targets for the Voyager narrow-angle camera. Three of the four targeted features are visible in this photograph; all three are close to their predicted locations. The Great Dark Spot with its bright white companion is slightly to the left of center. The small bright Scooter is below and to the left, and the second dark spot with its bright core is below the Scooter. Strong eastward winds -- up to 400 mph -- cause the second dark spot to overtake and pass the larger one every five days. The spacecraft was 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the planet at the time of camera shuttering, and the images use the orange, green and clear filters of the camera. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (JPL ref P-34632 Voyager 2 N-32C)
Each of NASA's Voyager probes are equipped with three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), including the one shown here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The RTGs provide power for the spacecraft by converting the heat generated by the decay of plutonium-238 into electricity. Launched in 1977, the Voyager mission is managed for NASA by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25782
Photo by Voyager 2 (JPL) During August 16 and 17, 1989, the Voyager 2 narrow-angle camera was used to photograph Neptune almost continuously, recording approximately two and one-half rotations of the planet. These images represent the most complete set of full disk Neptune images that the spacecraft will acquire. This picture from the sequence shows two of the four cloud features which have been tracked by the Voyager cameras during the past two months. The large dark oval near the western limb (the left edge) is at a latitude of 22 degrees south and circuits Neptune every 18.3 hours. The bright clouds immediately to the south and east of this oval are seen to substantially change their appearances in periods as short as four hours. The second dark spot, at 54 degrees south latitude near the terminator (lower right edge), circuits Neptune every 16.1 hours. This image has been processed to enchance the visibility of small features, at some sacrifice of color fidelity. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (JPL Ref: A-34611 Voyager 2-N29)
Artist: unknown (JPL) Saturn Voyager Mission Artwork depicts the spacecraft's path on it's journey to Saturn as it passed above the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and around Jupiter.
Artist: unknown (JPL) Saturn Voyager Mission Artwork depicts the spacecraft's path on it's journey to Saturn as it passed above the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and around Jupiter.
For the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic images taken by NASA's Voyager mission, a new version of the image known as "the Pale Blue Dot." Planet Earth is visible as a bright speck within the sunbeam just right of center and appears softly blue, as in the original version published in 1990 (see PIA00452). This updated version uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images. In 1990, the Voyager project planned to shut off the Voyager 1 spacecraft's imaging cameras to conserve power and because the probe, along with its sibling Voyager 2, would not fly close enough to any other objects to take pictures. Before the shutdown, the mission commanded the probe to take a series of 60 images designed to produce what they termed the "Family Portrait of the Solar System." Executed on Valentine's Day 1990, this sequence returned images for making color views of six of the solar system's planets and also imaged the Sun in monochrome. The popular name of this view is traced to the title of the 1994 book by Voyager imaging scientist Carl Sagan, who originated the idea of using Voyager's cameras to image the distant Earth and played a critical role in enabling the family portrait images to be taken. The image of Earth was originally published by NASA in 1990. It is republished here to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Family Portrait of the Solar System (see PIA00451) and the Pale Blue Dot image in particular. The planet occupies less than a single pixel in the image and thus is not fully resolved. (The actual width of the planet on the sky was less than one pixel in Voyager's camera.) By contrast, Jupiter and Saturn were large enough to fill a full pixel in their family portrait images. The direction of the Sun is toward the bottom of the view (where the image is brightest). Rays of sunlight scattered within the camera optics stretch across the scene. One of those light rays happens to have intersected dramatically with Earth. From Voyager 1's vantage point — a distance of approximately 3.8 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) — Earth was separated from the Sun by only a few degrees. The close proximity of the inner planets to the Sun was a key factor preventing these images from being taken earlier in the mission, as our star was still close and bright enough to damage the cameras with its blinding glare. The view is a color composite created by combining images taken using green, blue and violet spectral filters by the Voyager 1 Narrow-Angle Camera. They were taken at 4:48 GMT on Feb. 14, 1990, just 34 minutes before Voyager 1 powered off its cameras forever. Like the original version, this is technically a "false-color" view, as the color-filter images used were mapped to red, green and blue, respectively. The brightness of each color channel was balanced relative to the others, which is likely why the scene appears brighter but less grainy than the original. In addition, the color was balanced so that the main sunbeam (which overlays Earth) appears white, like the white light of the Sun. At its original resolution, the newly processed color image is 666 by 659 pixels in size; this is Figure A. The main image is an enlarged version. The image was processed by JPL engineer and image processing enthusiast Kevin M. Gill with input from two of the image's original planners, Candy Hansen and William Kosmann. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23645
Dwayne Brown, Senior Public Affairs Officer, NASA Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, kicks off a news conference on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 in Washington. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. The 36-year-old probe is about 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) from our sun. New and unexpected data indicate Voyager 1 has been traveling for about one year through plasma, or ionized gas, present in the space between stars. A report on the analysis of this new data is published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. In December 1972, the science steering group for a mission then-known as Mariner Jupiter Saturn 1977 -- later renamed Voyager -- met for the first time at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. They are gathered on the steps in front of the administration building (180). The mission was so named because it was planning to send Mariner-class spacecraft to Jupiter and Saturn. It was renamed Voyager a few months before the launch of the twin spacecraft in August and September 1977. This photo shows principal investigators and team leaders for the science experiments and several others from the project and NASA who attended the first meeting. In the first row: Radio Science Subsystem Team Leader Von Eshleman, Project Scientist Edward Stone, Project Manager Harris (Bud) Schurmeier, Mission Analysis and Engineering Manager Ralph Miles, Magnetometer Principal Investigator Norman Ness, NASA Planetary Program Office Deputy Director Ichtiaque Rasool, Robert Soberman (who was proposed to be the principal investigator of the Particulate Matter Investigation, which was not confirmed) and an unidentified member of the NASA Office of Space Science. In the second row: Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer Principal Investigator Rudolf Hanel, Planetary Radio Astronomy Principal Investigator James Warwick, Ultraviolet and Spectrometer Principal Investigator A. Lyle Broadfoot. In the third row: Low-Energy Charged Particles Principal Investigator Stamatios (Tom) Krimigis, Cosmic Ray Subsystem Principal Investigator Rochus (Robbie) Vogt, NASA Outer Planets Missions Program Manager Warren Keller, Imaging Science Subsystem Team Leader Bradford Smith and Photopolarimeter Principal Investigator Charles Lillie. In the fourth row: Plasma Investigation Principal Investigator Herbert Bridge, Spacecraft Systems Manager Raymond Heacock, NASA Outer Planets Missions Program Scientist Milton (Mike) Mitz and Science Manager James Long. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21122
Voyager II Imagery, Neptune: This is one of the most detailed views of the surface of Triton taken by Voyager 2 on its flyby of the large satellite of Neptune early in the morning of August 25, 1989. The picture was stored on the tape recorder and relayed to Earth later. Taken from a distanT ce of only 40,000 km (25, 000 miles), the frame is about 220 kilometers (140 miles) across and shows details as small as 750 meters (0.5 miles). Most of the area is covered by a peculiar landscape of roughly circular depressions separated by rugged ridges. This type of terrain, which covers large tracts of Triton's northern hemisphere, is unlike anything seen elsewhere in the solar system. The depressions are probably not impact craters: They are too similar in size and too regularly spaced. Their origin is still unknown, but may involve local melting and collapse of the icy surface. A conspicuous set of grooves and ridges cuts across the landscape, indicating fracturing and deformation of Triton's surface. The rarity of impact craters suggests a young surface by solar-system standards, probably less than a few billion years old. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (JPL ref: P-34722 Voyager N-60 )
This artist's concept puts solar system distances in perspective. The scale bar is in astronomical units, with each set distance beyond 1 AU representing 10 times the previous distance. One AU is the distance from the sun to the Earth, which is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. Neptune, the most distant planet from the sun, is about 30 AU. Informally, the term "solar system" is often used to mean the space out to the last planet. Scientific consensus, however, says the solar system goes out to the Oort Cloud, the source of the comets that swing by our sun on long time scales. Beyond the outer edge of the Oort Cloud, the gravity of other stars begins to dominate that of the sun. The inner edge of the main part of the Oort Cloud could be as close as 1,000 AU from our sun. The outer edge is estimated to be around 100,000 AU. NASA's Voyager 1, humankind's most distant spacecraft, is around 125 AU. Scientists believe it entered interstellar space, or the space between stars, on Aug. 25, 2012. Much of interstellar space is actually inside our solar system. It will take about 300 years for Voyager 1 to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud and possibly about 30,000 years to fly beyond it. Alpha Centauri is currently the closest star to our solar system. But, in 40,000 years, Voyager 1 will be closer to the star AC +79 3888 than to our own sun. AC +79 3888 is actually traveling faster toward Voyager 1 than the spacecraft is traveling toward it. The Voyager spacecraft were built and continue to be operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. The Voyager missions are a part of NASA's Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. For more information about Voyager, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/voyager" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/voyager</a> and <a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">voyager.jpl.nasa.gov</a> . Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>
Processed data from the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) spectrometer aboard NASA's Juno mission is superimposed on a mosaic of optical images from the agency's Galileo and Voyager spacecraft that shows grooved terrain on Jupiter's moon Ganymede. This composite image covers a portion of Phrygia Suclus, northeast of Nanshe Catena, on Ganymede. The data was taken by Juno during its June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. The JIRAM data is represented by the colored line running from the upper left to lower right in the graphic. The line depicts an increase in intensity of the spectral signature of a non-ice compound, possibly ammonium chloride, in the groove at the lower right of the image. JIRAM "sees" infrared light not visible to the human eye. It measures heat radiated from the planet at an infrared wavelengths. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26075
Lunar Trailblazer's voyage to the Moon will take between four and seven months, depending on the day it launches. This orbital diagram shows the low-energy transfer trajectory of the NASA mission should it launch on Feb. 26, the earliest date in a four-day launch period. If it launches that date, the spacecraft is expected to arrive in lunar orbit about four months later. Shown in this diagram are key dates of trajectory correction maneuvers, when the spacecraft will use its thrusters to shape its orbit, and lunar flybys. Lunar Trailblazer was a selection of NASA's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), which provides opportunities for low-cost science spacecraft to ride-share with selected primary missions. To maintain the lower overall cost, SIMPLEx missions have a higher risk posture and lighter requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance allows NASA to test pioneering technologies, and the definition of success for these missions includes the lessons learned from more experimental endeavors. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26459
In a conference room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, members of the Voyager mission team gathered April 20, 2024, to find out if an issue on Voyager 1 had been partially resolved. Just after 6:40 a.m., a cheer went up around the room as the group heard back from the spacecraft: It was returning engineering data for the first time since November 2023. Nearly two full days earlier, the team had sent a series of commands to move a section of software code used by the flight data subsystem (FDS) computer to a new location. The physical location where the code was previously stored has been damaged, causing the mission to go five months without receiving science or engineering data. But the commands were a success, and the team received data about the health and status of the spacecraft, prompting celebration. The commands were sent on April 18, 2024. Due to Voyager 1's distance from Earth – over 15 billion miles or 24 billion kilometers – a radio signal takes about 22 ½ hours to travel to the spacecraft, and 22 ½ hours to return to Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26275
Audience members view slides from a presentation by Dr. Jim Green, Dr. Ed Stone, and Dr. Alan Stern at the "New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt" Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Monday, August 25, 2014. They discussed how the first images of Pluto and its moons would be captured by the New Horizons spacecraft during a five month long reconnaissance flyby study starting in the summer of 2015. New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006 and is scheduled to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
An audience member asks the panelists a question at the "New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt" Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Monday, August 25, 2014. Scientists discussed how the first images of Pluto and its moons would be captured by the New Horizons spacecraft during a five month long reconnaissance flyby study starting in the summer of 2015. New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006 and is scheduled to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Astronauts Jim Voss (left) and Susan Helms plant a cherry laurel tree outside the KSC Headquarters building to commemorate their stay as Expedition 2 crew members aboard the International Space Station. Expedition 2, which also included cosmonaut Yury Usachev, made the space voyage to the Station on mission STS-102 in March 2001. After five months on the Station, they returned to Earth, at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, on mission STS-105 in August 2001
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility look at the cargo inside the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo revealed when the hatch was removed. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is removed in the Space Station Processing Facility. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- With the hatch of Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo open, the contents are ready to be removed. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. It has brought back to KSC nearly a ton of trash and excess equipment from the Space Station. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility prepare to remove the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility loosen the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility begin unwrapping the protective cover over the end of Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo so they can open the hatch and access the inside. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo sits on a workstand in the Space Station Processing Facility. Workers will be removing the protective cover over the end so they can open the hatch and access the inside. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility prepare to remove the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility begin unwrapping the protective cover over the end of Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo so they can open the hatch and access the inside. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility look at the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
Following a ceremony at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the Florida spaceport’s launch control center was officially renamed the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center. The facility serves as a nerve center where engineers and the launch director will monitor their flight consoles and give the “go” for the upcoming launch of Artemis I and later missions that will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars. Petrone, who was instrumental in America’s first voyages to the Moon and headed the Apollo program, died in 2006 at the age of 80.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers look on as the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo opens. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is removed in the Space Station Processing Facility. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers look on as the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo opens. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-1 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Voyager spacecraft for the first of two missions to be launched toward the outer planets was encapsulated within the payload fairing which will protect it during launch. The 1,800 pound spacecraft is to be mated with Titan_Centaur 7 at Launch Complex 41 and sent on a mission to Jupiter and Saturn no earlier than Aug. 20, 1977. Photo Credit: NASA
Following a ceremony at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the Florida spaceport’s launch control center was officially renamed the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center. The facility serves as a nerve center where engineers and the launch director will monitor their flight consoles and give the “go” for the upcoming launch of Artemis I and later missions that will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars. Petrone, who was instrumental in America’s first voyages to the Moon and headed the Apollo program, died in 2006 at the age of 80.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility look at the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility loosen the hatch on Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MPLM has just returned from its maiden voyage to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on mission STS-102. Leonardo is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency to serve as “cargo vans” to the Station, carrying supplies and equipment. In the SSPF, Leonardo will be prepared for a future mission