NASA’s unmanned probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, were launched in the autumn of 1977 and have been on a journey to the edge of the universe for the past 45 years.
At the dawn of the space boom
The world’s first artificial satellite was a lightweight one launched by the Soviet Union in October 1957, weighing only 83.6 kilograms. The beginning of manned space activities was marked by the Soviet Union’s first manned spacecraft, Vostok 1, on April 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin, an Air Force pilot, successfully orbited the Earth in 108 minutes and reached an altitude of 300 km, captivating people around the world with his expression, “The Earth is blue.
The first human lunar landing
On July 16, 1969, the American spacecraft Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center and became the first mission to land humans on the Moon and successfully bring back lunar samples to Earth. I still vividly remember the exhibition of the “Moon Rock” at the 1970 Osaka Expo, where many people gathered.
Voyager’s successive visits to Jupiter and Saturn
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in the autumn of 1977, eight years after the Apollo 11 lunar landing. After the launch, they visited Jupiter in about two years and then visited Saturn one year later.
Originally, the mission was to explore these two planets.The plan did not include visiting Uranus and Neptune due to the excessive cost. However, when Voyager 2 arrived at Saturn, its instruments were functioning sufficiently, leading to a decision to head towards the exploration of Uranus.
The two Voyagers, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, passed by Jupiter (Photos 1 and 2) and Saturn (Photos 5 and 6), capturing close-up photographs for the first time (quoted from Nikkei Science, January 2023 issue).
I had memories of the beautiful photos sent back by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 during their exploration of Jupiter and Saturn, but there hasn’t been much news about their journey since then, and it was somewhat forgotten.
Currently, Voyagers are peacefully traveling unknown world through interstellar space
Subsequently, Voyager 2 made a visit to Uranus in January 1986 and Neptune in August 1989. Currently, both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have left the heliosphere and are peacefully traveling through interstellar space, controlled by their instruments, over a distance of 20 billion kilometers, aiming for even more distant unknown worlds.
It’s incredibly romantic and astonishing. I look forward to hearing more from the edge of the universe.
March 20, 2023.