NASA's Voyager Missions: Exploring the Outer Solar System and Beyond

ISBN-13: 9783031079221 / Angielski / Miękka / 2022 / 256 str.

Ben Evans

Spis treści

PREFACE

 Chapter 1 – to explore the history of planetary observation from prehistory through the invention of the telescope and into modern times, prior to the dawn of the Space Age.

 Chapter 2 – to trace early efforts to explore the Solar System and planets with space telescopes and space probes in the 1960s and 1970s and the state of knowledge on the eve of the Voyagers’ launch.

 Chapter 3 – to explore the origins of Project Voyager as a continuation of Mariner, with emphasis on early designs, nuclear power, Saturn V and other boosters and the evolution and expense of TOPS.

 Chapter 4 – to focus on the construction, processing and launch of the spacecraft, together with initial problems experienced and how communications and data processing occurred, as well as the background to the Voyagers’ respective trajectory plans.

 Chapter 5 – to explore the Voyagers’ surveys of Jupiter, from early observations to completion of science phase, lessons learned and as in the original volume this story will be brought up to date with more modern Galileo and Juno data.

 Chapter 6 – to explore the Voyagers’ surveys of Jupiter, from early observations to completion of science phase, lessons learned and as in the original volume this story will be brought up to date with more modern Galileo and Juno data.

 Chapter 7 - to explore the Voyagers’ surveys of Saturn, from early observations to completion of science phase, lessons learned and as in the original volume this story will be brought up to date with more modern Cassini data.

 Chapter 8 - to explore the Voyagers’ surveys of Uranus, from early observations to completion of science phase, lessons learned and as in the original volume this story will be brought up to date with more modern Hubble and Keck-II data, in addition to ongoing Decadal Surveys to explore future mission concepts.

 Chapter 9 - to explore the Voyagers’ surveys of Neptune, from early observations to completion of science phase, lessons learned and as in the original volume this story will be brought up to date with more modern Hubble and Keck-II data, in addition to ongoing Decadal Surveys to explore future mission concepts.

 Chapter 10 – to explore the Voyagers’ respective trajectories and discoveries after their planetary encounters, including the 1990 family portrait, gradual deterioration of instrument usage from the late 1990s and beyond and the current state of the missions, together with expectation of end-of-contact and the legacy of the mission.

 Bibliography

 Index

O autorze

Ben Evans has a lifelong fascination for space exploration and the mysteries of the cosmos, together with a keen interest in writing. He published his first magazine article in the British Interplanetary Society’s Spaceflight magazine in 1992, aged 15. In the years that followed, he contributed to the Magazines Spaceflight, Countdown, Astronomy Now, Sky At Night, Astronomy, Boundless and All About Space. He currently writes for AmericaSpace.com.

Evans’ first foray into the world of book-writing, NASA’s Voyager Missions, was published in 2003. Since then, he wrote two books about the careers of the lost shuttles Columbia and Challenger and a six-volume history of human space exploration. The first volume of this series, Escaping the Bonds of Earth, was nominated and shortlisted for the 2010 Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Award.

Blurb

2022 marks the 45th anniversary of the Voyager probe launches. Launched into space in 1977, these twin probes explored the farthest reaches of the Solar System before venturing on a one-way journey beyond, all the while testing the bounds of science, robotic exploration and our collective imagination. This heavily revised commemorative book takes a comprehensive look at their incredible achievements, future potential and overall legacy.

Chronicled herein is an epic journey to unveil the mysterious outer reaches of the Solar System for the first time. The book recounts the Voyagers’ travels through the asteroid belt and past the giant gaseous planets Jupiter and Saturn, as well as Voyager 2’s forays near the distant ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Each chapter details in full the game-changing scientific data and glorious imagery they sent back to Earth.

This new edition incorporates all the new data we have learned in the nearly 20 years since its original publication, discussing how the knowledge first gleaned with Voyager has been built upon in subsequent decades by Cassini, Juno and New Horizons.

The Voyager probes captured imaginations around the world; now is an opportune time to reflect on their unparalleled quest across the edges of the Solar System and the enigmatic interstellar medium beyond.