Tag Archives: Space Probe

18 September 1977

September 18, 2024Space FlightEarth, Image, Interplanetary Probe, Moon, Photograph, Space Probe, Voyager 1Bryan Swopes

Voyager 1, First Picture Earth and Moon — Earth and The Moon, photographed by Voyager 1, 18 September 1977. (NASA)

“This picture of the Earth and Moon in a single frame, the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft, was recorded September 18, 1977, by NASA’s Voyager 1 when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. The moon is at the top of the picture and beyond the Earth as viewed by Voyager. In the picture are eastern Asia, the western Pacific Ocean and part of the Arctic. Voyager 1 was directly above Mt. Everest (on the night side of the planet at 25 degrees north latitude) when the picture was taken. The photo was made from three images taken through color filters, then processed by the Image Processing Lab at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Because the Earth is many times brighter than the Moon, the Moon was artificially brightened by a factor of three relative to the Earth by computer enhancement so that both bodies would show clearly in the prints. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977 and Voyager 2 on August 20, 1977. JPL is responsible for the Voyager mission.”

—NASA Greatest Images Archive

5 September 1977

September 5, 2024Space FlightCape Canaveral, Interplanetary Probe, Kennedy Space Center, LC-41, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Rocket, Space Probe, Titan IIIE-Centaur, Voyager 1Bryan Swopes

The Voyager 1 interplanetary space probe was launched from Launch Complex 41, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 12:56:00 UTC, 5 September 1977. (NASA)

25 August 1981

August 25, 2024Space FlightInterplanetary Probe, Saturn, Space Probe, Voyager 2Bryan Swopes

25 August 1981: 4 years, 5 days after launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Saturn.

Voyager_2_-_Saturn_-_3115_7854_2 — Upper atmosphere of Saturn, photographed by *Voyager 2*. (NASA)

The probe continued outward to Saturn, Neptune and Uranus, continuously transmitting images and data. In 1990, the space probe passed beyond the limits of the Solar System.

Voyager 2 is now in interstellar space. It crossed the heliopause, where “solar wind” is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas, 5 November 2018. It is still operating, 46 years after it was launched.

On 21 July 2023, an erroneous instruction caused Voyager 2 to turn its antenna away from Earth, but on 5 August 2023, contact was reestablished. A power reduction strategy is hoped to allow the space probe to continue operating until 2026.

As of 15 August 2024, Voyager 2 was 136 Astronomical Units from Earth (20,345,310,413 kilometers/12,641,989,788 statute miles/10,985,588,776 nautical miles). Radio signals, traveling at the Speed of Light, take 18 hours, 56 minutes to cross that distance. It continues outbound at a rate of 3.3 AU/year. (With respect to the Sun, Voyager 2 is traveling outbound at 15.35 kilometers per second (33,330.48 miles per hour/29,832.37 knots).

20 August 1975

August 20, 2024Space FlightChryse Planitia, Kennedy Space Center, Mars, NASA, Rocket, Satellite, Space Flight, Space Probe, Titan IIIE/Centaur, Viking I, Viking Lander, Viking orbiterBryan Swopes

20 August 1975: The Viking 1 space probe was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Titan IIIE/Centaur rocket. For the next ten months it traveled to Mars, the fourth planet of the Solar System. Once there, it was placed in orbit and began sending telemetry data back to Earth. A Viking Lander descended to the planet’s surface, landing at Chryse Planitia.

This was the first time that a spacecraft had landed on another planet. The orbiter continued to operate over the course of 1,485 orbits. As it ran low on fuel, mission controllers boosted it into a higher orbit to prevent it falling to the planet. Orbiter operations were terminated 17 August 1980. The lander operated for 6 years, 116 days, before the mission was terminated by a faulty transmission which resulted in a loss of contact, 11 November 1982.

Mars photo from Viking 1 lander — The surface of Chryse Planitia, Mars, photographed by the Viking 1 Lander. (NASA)

14 July 1965

July 14, 2024Space FlightAtlas D/Agena, Cape Canaveral, Interplanetary Probe, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 12, Mariner 4, Mars, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1964-077A, Space ProbeBryan Swopes

14 July 1965: At 0:00:57 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (01:00:57 UTC), 7 months, 14 days after its launch from the Kennedy Space Center, the space probe Mariner 4 made its closest approach to Mars. It came within 6,118 miles (9,846 kilometers) of the surface and took 21 full digital images and a portion of a 22nd. These images were stored on magnetic tape and later transmitted to Earth. 5.6 million bits of data were received.

Mariner 4 was a 260.68 kilogram (574.70 pounds) interplanetary spacecraft, controlled by radio signals from Earth. It was launched 28 November 1964 from Launch Complex 12 at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch vehicle was a three-stage liquid-fueled Atlas D/Agena rocket.

Mariner 4 continued to perform experiments and send signals back to Earth until 21 December 1967. At that time, it was 192,100,000 miles (309,154,982.4 kilometers) from home. Today, it remains in orbit around the sun.

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