Today in the history of astronomy, Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Jupiter.
The Voyager probes (one shown here in an artist’s interpretation) were originally intended to visit Saturn and Jupiter, but their success sent them onwards to Uranus, Nepture, and interstellar space. Credit: Kevin Gill/Wikimedia
- Voyager 2 closely studied Jupiter in July 1979.
- It discovered Jupiter has a thin ring system.
- Voyager 2 found evidence of a subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
- Its Jupiter discoveries allowed for mission extension to Uranus and Neptune.
On July 9, 1979, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft came within 404,003 miles (650,180 kilometers) of Jupiter. Launched in August 1977, the Voyager probes were originally planned to study Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 1 arrived at Jupiter in March 1979, and Voyager 2 followed a few months later. Equipped with narrow- and wide-angle cameras, an interferometer, an ultraviolet spectrometer, a magnetometer, and more, Voyager 2 showed that the Great Red Spot was a storm system and revealed Jupiter’s thin ring system. Its investigations of the gas giant’s moons included confirming active volcanism on the moon Io and taking high-resolution images of Europa that suggested a ocean beneath its icy crust. Its success allowed Voyager 2 to extend its mission, becoming the only spacecraft to perform close-up explorations of Uranus and Neptune before continuing the journey into interstellar space.
