Voyager 1 and 2 are twin spacecrafts that were launched in the 1970s. Since then they have been on an incredible journey across the Solar System, visiting the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The mission was far more successful than scientists had imagined it would be, and the spacecrafts are still sending back information to earth.
Jupiter
Voyager 1 and 2 took pictures of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and saw that one of its moons, called Io, has active volcanoes.
Saturn
Both spacecrafts photographed Saturn’s rings and moons. Scientists learned about what Saturn was made of and what its weather was like.
Uranus
Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to visit Uranus. It discovered ten new moons around the planet!
Neptune
In the late 1980s Voyager 2 reached Neptune, the final planet on its tour. It passed close to Neptune’s largest moon, called Triton.
Leaving the Solar System
On 25 August 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the Solar System!
Pioneer missions
Launched just before the Voyager missions, Pioneer 10 and 11 were the first spacecrafts to cross the asteroid belt and visit Jupiter and Saturn.
Family portrait
The Pioneer project also sent probes to visit the inner planets and to orbit the Earth, some of which launched in the 1950s.
Anyone out there?
In case they are found by aliens, the Pioneer probes carry plaques showing the position of Earth in the Solar System and what humans look like!
Picture Credit : Google