Voyager 2 was launched first on August 20, 1977 followed by Voyager 1, which was launched on September 5, 1977. Both spacecraft were launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

After they visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, both Voyagers 1 and 2 will continue out of the solar system looking into the unknown.

Voyager 1 got to Jupiter nine months before Voyager 2 did. Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Jupiter on March 5, 1979, and was followed by Voyager 2, which made its closest approach on July 19, 1979. They took over 33,000 pictures of Jupiter, its rings, and its moons.

When the Voyagers started to gather information on Jupiter’s four known moons they found interesting facts no one had known before. They also discovered three new moons and gathered information on them, too.

New Moons: Two new moons, Adrastea and Metis, orbit just outside the new ring. The third new moon, Thebe, was discovered between Amalthea and Io.

Europa: Astronomers think Europa may have ocean underneath its crust up to 30 miles deep. If you’d like to find out about Life on Europa, click here.

Ganymede: Ganymede turned out to be the largest moon in our solar system. Before the Voyagers gathered information on it, astronomers thought Saturn’s moon, Titan, was the largest moon in our solar system.

Callisto: Callisto has an ancient, heavily cratered crust with enormous impact cracks. The largest craters were filled with ice. Astronomers hope they may have microscopic organisms in the craters. If there is, astronomers would be very, very excited.

Amalthea: Amalthea is elliptical. It is about 10 times bigger than Mar’s largest moon, Phobos, and has 1,000 times the volume.

The Voyagers discovered a ring around Jupiter that had been quite unexpected by astronomers because as close as Jupiter is, they never saw its ring when looking in a telescope. The ring’s outer edge is 80,000 miles from the center of Jupiter. The ring is 20 miles thick and 4,000 miles wide. It is Jupiter’s only ring.

The Voyagers made their approach to Saturn nine months apart, Voyager 1 in November 1980 and Voyager 2 in August 1981. We know a lot more about Saturn because they gathered so much data.

Probably the biggest surprise to astronomers was the rings. Saturn’s rings were set up differently than scientists originally thought because they had gaps in between the rings. It was a big surprise! Astronomers thought the way the rings are set up might be because of tiny moons in the rings, causing gaps.

Before the Voyagers’ encounter, astronomers believed Saturn had 11 moons. After their visit, they knew Saturn had at least 17 moons and 3 more possible moons were discovered from Earth after their encounter. The ones discovered by the Voyagers are Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Helene, Tethys, Telesto, and Calypso.

Voyager 2 flew closely by Uranus. (Voyager 1 left to go out of the solar system looking for anything unknown after its encounter with Saturn). NASA was depending on the spacecraft to get lots of information because back then Uranus was a mystery to most people.

Voyager 2 took pictures of Uranus’ five known moons: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. They took many pictures of the moons showing the size, color, and more. They also discovered 10 new moons, giving NASA more information than expected.

Voyager 2 also took pictures of Uranus’ nine known rings, showing the different sizes, colors, and more. It also discovered two more rings. Astronomers also now know the distance from the rings to the center of Uranus is 13,000 miles to the first ring and 24,000 miles to the second ring.

In the summer of 1989, Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to visit Neptune. Voyager 2 made its first approach on August 25, 1989. It got lots of information on Neptune’s moons, rings, and more that we ever knew.

Voyager 2 left Earth only knowing two of Neptune’s moons, Triton and Nereid. But when it got to Neptune, it discovered six new moons. Voyager 2 gathered lots of information on the six new moons: Proteus, Larissa, Despina, Galatea, Thalassa, and Naiad. Astronomers thought the most unusual fact Voyager 2 found out about the new moons was every moon was irregularly shaped instead of round.