Voyager at 40: 40 Photos from NASA's Epic 'Grand Tour' Mission

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | August 18, 2017 04:00pm ET

Voyager 2 Launch

Voyager 2 lifted off on Aug. 20, 1977, about two weeks before the Sept. 5 launch of Voyager 1. The two probes were sent on different trajectories; Voyager 1 was put on a path to reach its planetary targets, Jupiter and Saturn, ahead of Voyager 2.

Voyager 1 Launch

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 5, 1977.

Earth and Moon

This picture of a crescent-shaped Earth and moon — the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft — was recorded Sept. 18, 1977, by NASA's Voyager 2 when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth.

Jupiter

The U.S. Geological Survey produced this processed, enhanced-color image of Jupiter using a photo captured by Voyager 2 in July 1979.

Great Spot!

As Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter in 1979, it captured this photo of the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot is an ancient, high-pressure storm on Jupiter so large that three Earths could fit inside it.

Beautiful Spot

In January and February 1979, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft zoomed toward Jupiter, capturing hundreds of images during its approach, including this close-up of swirling clouds around Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Jupiter's Rings

Color composite by Voyager 2 showing Jupiter's faint ring system. Images captured in July 1979.

Callisto

This false-color image of Jupiter's icy moon Callisto was taken by Voyager 2 on July 7, 1979 at a range of 677,000 miles (1,094,666 kilometers).

Europa

View of the icy, ocean-harboring Jupiter moon Europa, taken by Voyager 2 on July 9, 1979.

Water Potential

This re-projection of the official USGS basemap of Jupiter's moon Europa is centered at the estimated source region for potential water vapor plumes that might have been detected using the Hubble Space Telescope.

Ganymede

This Voyager 2 mosaic, photographed at a range of 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) shows Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. The ancient dark area of Regio Galileo lies at the upper left. Below it, the ray system is probably caused by water-ice splashed out in a relatively recent impact.

Io

Voyager 1 image of Io showing the active plume of the volcano Loki. The heart-shaped feature southeast of Loki consists of fallout deposits from the active plume Pele. The images that make up this mosaic were taken from an average distance of approximately 340,000 miles (490,000 kilometers).

Pele's Eruption

The eruption of Pele on Jupiter's moon Io, as seen by Voyager 1 in March 1979. The volcanic plume rises 186 miles (300 kilometers) above Io's surface in an umbrella-like shape. The plume fallout covers an area the size of Alaska. The vent is a dark spot just north of the triangular-shaped plateau (right center). To the left, the surface is covered by colorful lava flows rich in sulfur.

Mapping Io

This map of Jupiter's moon Io was produced by combining the best images from both the Voyager 1 and Galileo missions.

Looking Back at Saturn

Voyager 1 looked back at Saturn on Nov. 16, 1980, four days after the spacecraft flew past the planet, to observe the appearance of Saturn and its rings from this unique perspective. The probe was about 3.3 million miles (5.3 million kilometers) from the planet at the time.

Rings, Moons and All

Voyager 2 view of Saturn and four of its moons (Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Mimas), taken in August 1981.

In Its Glory

Another view of Saturn by Voyager 2.

Colorful Saturn

Color-enhanced image of Saturn taken by Voyager 1 on October 18, 1980, 25 days before closest approach.

Unknown Textures

This Voyager 2 view — taken on Aug. 22, 1981, at a distance of 2.5 million miles (4 million km) from Saturn — shows "spokes" in the planet's famous rings.

Compositional Differences

This enhanced-color view of Saturn's rings, taken by Voyager 2 in August 1981, shows possible differences in composition.

Enceladus

Voyager 2 image of Saturn's icy, ocean-harboring moon Enceladus, captured in August 1981.

Dione

Many large impact craters are seen in this view of the Saturn moon Dione taken by Voyager 1 on Nov. 12, 1980, from a range of about 149,000 miles (240,000 kilometers).

Titan

Voyager 2 view of Saturn's huge, hazy moon Titan from Aug. 23, 1981.

Hazy Moon

This Voyager 1 view of Titan, taken on Nov. 12, 1980, shows the Saturn moon's thick haze layer.

Layers of Haze

Layers of haze covering Saturn's moon Titan are seen in this image taken by Voyager 1 on Nov. 12, 1980 at a range of 13,700 miles (22,000 kilometers). This false-color image shows the details of the haze that covers Titan. The upper level of the thick aerosol above the moon's limb appears orange.

Uranus

These two pictures of Uranus — one in true color (left) and the other in false color — were compiled from images returned Jan. 17, 1986, by the narrow-angle camera of Voyager 2. The spacecraft was 5.7 million miles (9.1 million kilometers) from the planet at the time, several days from closest approach.

Rings of Uranus

Voyager 2 returned this picture of Uranus' rings on Jan. 22, 1986, from a distance of 1.56 million miles (2.52 million kilometers).

Crescent Uranus

This view of Uranus was recorded by Voyager 2 on Jan 25, 1986, as the spacecraft left the planet behind and set forth on the cruise to Neptune Even at this extreme angle, Uranus retains the pale blue-green color seen by ground-based astronomers and recorded by Voyager during its historic encounter.

Miranda

Uranus' moon Miranda is shown in a computer-assembled mosaic of images obtained Jan. 24, 1986, by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Miranda is the innermost and smallest of the five major Uranian satellites, just 300 miles (480 kilometers) in diameter. Nine images were combined to obtain this full-disc, south-polar view.

Blue Neptune

Neptune, as seen by Voyager 2 in August 1989.

Interesting Clouds

This Voyager 2 high resolution color image provides obvious evidence of vertical relief in Neptune's bright cloud streaks. These clouds were observed at a latitude of 29 degrees north near Neptune's east terminator, the "line" on a planet where daylight meets darkness.

False-Color Neptune

This false-color photograph of Neptune was made from Voyager 2 images taken in January 1996. The image reveals the presence of a ubiquitous haze that covers Neptune in a semitransparent layer. Near the center of the disk, sunlight passes through the haze and deeper into the atmosphere, where some wavelengths are absorbed by methane gas.

Neptune's Rings

Neptune's rings, as seen in two separate Voyager 2 exposures taken about 10 minutes apart.

Triton Mosaic

Global color mosaic of Triton, taken in 1989 by Voyager 2 during its flyby of the Neptune system. Color was synthesized by combining high-resolution images taken through orange, violet, and ultraviolet filters; these images were displayed as red, green, and blue images and combined to create this color version.

Triton

The Voyager 2 spacecraft took this color photo of Neptune's moon Triton on Aug. 24, 1989, at a range of 330,000 miles (530,000 kilometers). The image was made from pictures taken through the green, violet and ultraviolet filters. In this technique, regions that are highly reflective in the ultraviolet appear blue in color.

Neptune from Triton

This composite illustration is of the planet Neptune, as seen from its moon Triton. Neptune's south pole is to the left; clearly visible in the planets' southern hemisphere is a Great Dark Spot, a large anti-cyclonic storm system. This three-dimensional view was created using images from the Voyager spacecraft.

Two Crescents

This view of the crescents of Neptune and Triton was acquired by Voyager 2 about three days after its Aug. 25, 1989, closest approach to Neptune. The spacecraft was about 3 million miles (4.86 million kilometers) from Neptune at the time.

The Pale Blue Dot

This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic.

Entering Interstellar Space

This artist's concept depicts NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space, or the space between stars, in August 2012.

Far from Home

The signal of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft -- the most distant human-made object -- was spotted from Earth in February 2013 by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's 5,000-mile-wide (8,000-kilometer-wide) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), which links radio telescopes from Hawaii to St. Croix.

Author Bio

Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer: Michael was a science writer for the Idaho National Laboratory and has been an intern at Wired.com, The Salinas Californian newspaper, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He has also worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Mike on Google+.; Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer on

Triton

Credit: NASA/JPL