Universe  ID: 4139

Voyager 1 Trajectory through the Solar System

This visualization tracks the trajectory of the Voyager 1 spacecraft through the solar system. Launched on September 5, 1977, it was one of two spacecraft sent to visit the giant planets of the outer solar system. Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and Saturn before being directed out of the solar system.

To fit the 40 year history of the mission into a short visualization, the pacing of time accelerates through most of the movie, starting at about 5 days per second at the beginning and speeding up to about 11 months per second after the planet flybys are past.

The termination shock and heliopause are the 'boundaries' created when the plasma between the stars interacts with the plasma flowing outward from the Sun. They are represented with simple grid models and oriented so their 'nose' is pointed in the direction (Right Ascension = 17h 24m, declination = 17 degrees south) represented by more recent measurements from other missions.

Voyager 1's 'Family Portrait' On Valentine's Day 1990, Voyager 1's camera were pointed back at the solar system to image the planets.

Check out Voyager at NASA/JPL for more information.
 

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Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Kathalina Tran (KBRwyle): Writer
Genna Duberstein (USRA): Producer
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4139

Mission:
Voyager

Data Used:
DE 431
Ephemeris - JPL
Planetary ephemerides SPICE kernel
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of these series:
Voyager Retrospective
Voyager @ 40

Keywords:
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Solar System
SVS >> Spacecraft >> Voyager
NASA Science >> Universe