Voyager 2

Launch data: Designation  10271 / 77076A Launch date  20 Aug 1977 - 14:29:44 UT Launch site  CC, LC-41 Launch vehicle  Titan-3E Centaur-D1T (#23E-7/TC-7) Mission  Flyby of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune Interpl. sonde Sonde type  Star-37E Post Neptune orbit Perihelion / Aphelion  21.24 x ~ Eccentricity  6.28 Inclination  78.81 deg Period   -

Spacecraft data: Prime contractor   Operator  NASA / JPL Platform   Mass at launch   kg Dry Mass  795 kg Basic shape  Decagon + dish Dimension  1.5 long - 1.9 and 3.7 dia Solar array   Stabilization   DC power  420 W Design lifetime  Indefinite

Voyager 2 encapsulated

Mission details:

• Passed:
  • 642000 km from Jupiter on 1979 Jul 10.
  • 101000 km from Saturn on 1981 Aug 26.14.
  • 80000 km from Uranus on 1986 Jan 24.75.
  • 4900 km from Neptune on 1989 Aug 25.16.
• Flyby of Saturn moons Enceladus (at 86754 km) and Tethys (at 92474 km) on Aug 26, 1981 (03:45? and 06:12? UT).
• Entered Neptune′s gravitational sphere of influence on about July 4, 1989.
• On Aug 24, 1989: Closest approach to Neptune.
• Left Solar system in direction of Alpha Canis Major, reaching Sirius after 358000 years.
• In 1993 at 36 AU from Sun at 3.1 AU/year.
• In 2002 March at 67 AU from Sun at 3.3 AU/year.
• On August 30, 2007, Voyager 2 passed the termination shock into the heliosheath, approximately 1 billion miles (1.6 billion km) closer to the Sun than Voyager 1 did. This is due to the local interstellar magnetic field of deep space. The southern hemisphere of the Solar System's heliosphere is being pushed in.
• On Jan 1, 2010 Voyager 2 was 91.0 AU from the Sun.
• As of April 13, 2010 Voyager 2 was at a distance of around 91.898 AU (13.747 billion km or 0.001443 light years) from the Sun, deep in the scattered disc, and traveling outward at roughly 3.264 AU per year. It is more than twice as far from the Sun as Pluto, and far beyond the perihelion of 90377 Sedna, but not yet beyond the outer limits of the orbit of the dwarf planet Eris.
  Voyager 2 is not headed toward any particular star. If left alone, it should pass by star Sirius, which is currently about 2.6 parsecs from the Sun and moving diagonally towards the Sun, at a distance of 1.32 parsecs (4.3 ly, 25 trillion mi) in about 296,000 years.
• Voyager 2 is expected to keep transmitting weak radio messages until at least 2025, over 48 years since it was launched.
• On Jan 1, 2010 Voyager 1 was 112.1 AU from the Sun and Voyager 2 was 91.0 AU from the Sun.
• On Jan 1, 2022 Voyager 1 was 155.36 AU from the Sun and Voyager 2 was 129.28 AU from the Sun.

External links:

• NASA: Voyager status

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Pasadena and cancel "Closest approach to Neptune"