I remember this particular episode in history. I was in college, and most people didn't care about the mission, until the images started coming back. I wanted to go into science at that point in my life, and I found this fascinating. This article from NASA was from 2020. 40 Years Ago: Voyager 1 Explores Saturn - NASA
No one cared about the 40th anniversary, I'm not sure why I think anyone will care about 45.
The Voyager program was a result of taking advantage of a chance to use the Grand Tour. It was a chance to study the planets that comes infrequently.
The concept of the Grand Tour began in 1964, when Gary Flandro of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) noted that an alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune that would occur in the late 1970s would enable a single spacecraft to visit all of the outer planets by using gravity assists. The particular alignment occurs once every 175 years.
It is amazing that we were able to do so much with 1970s technology. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are still sending some data back to JPL, though they won't last much longer.
I can't find a reference for the time of closest approach. I suppose it doesn't matter all that much after 45 years.
The article linked at the top includes a couple of great photos, including the one below.
The image below was taken on 13 November 1980. There are two moons in the photo, with Tethys being at the top, and the moon Dione below.
November 12, 1980, Vger 1 77,000 miles from Saturn. This was closest approach to the planet.
ReplyDeletePioneer 11 came less than 70,000 miles to Saturn the year before.
The above according to NASA.
ReplyDeleteI consider it a fortuitous marvel that Gary at JPL conceptualized the mission for a once in multiple generations opportunity. The Grand Tour, indeed.