voyager 2 nedir

Dünya'dan en uzak uzay araçları: Voyager 1 ve 2'nin ömrü bitiyor

NASA'nın emektar uzay araçları Voyager 1 ve Voyager 2 veda etmeye hazırlanıyor. 1977'de fırlatılan uzay araçlarının gücünü 2025'te tüketeceği tahmin ediliyor.

Jüpiter ve Satürn'ü incelemek için tasarlanan Voyager'ların 5 yıl dayanması hedefleniyordu. Araçlar planları fazlasıyla aşarak yaklaşık 45 yıldır uzayda seyahat ediyor.

Independent Türkçe'deki habere göre Dünya'dan en uzak uzay araçları unvanına sahip Voyager'lar, Güneş Sistemi'nin ucundaki heliosferin ötesine geçmişti. Voyager 1'in heliosferi aşması yaklaşık 36 yıl sürdü. Uzay aracının o zamandan beri gönderdiği veriler, evrendeki manyetik alanların rolü hakkında çarpıcı bilgiler veriyor.

Voyager 2 ise yıldızlararası ortama 2018'de girdi. Ancak iki uzay aracı da Güneş Sistemi'nin dışında sayılmıyor. Çünkü Güneş Sistemi'nin sınırı, su, buz, amonyak ve metandan meydana gelen Oort bulutu olarak kabul ediliyor.

Örneğin NASA, Voyager 2'nin Oort bulutun iç kenarına ulaşmasının yaklaşık 300 yıl, ötesine geçmesinin muhtemelen 30 bin yıl süreceğini düşünüyor.

Voyager 1, Dünya'dan 23,3 milyar kilometre uzakta bulunuyor. 2 numaralı uzay aracıysa yaklaşık 19,3 milyar kilometre mesafede yer alıyor.

İkili, radyoizotop termoelektrik jeneratör teknolojisiyle çalışıyor. Jeneratörlerin sağladığı güç her yıl yaklaşık 4 watt azalıyor. Bu, uzay araçlarındaki cihazların birer birer kapatıldığı anlamına geliyor. Viyager 1'de çalışan cihaz sayısı 4'ü bulurken Voyager 2'de bu sayı 5.

Sky News'in aktardığına göre uzay araçlarının 2025'te gücünün tükenmesi bekleniyor.

Voyager ekibinde yer alan Linda Spilker, "Her şey gerçekten yolunda giderse bu görevleri belki 2030'lara kadar uzatabiliriz. Bu sadece güce bağlı" diye konuştu. (Görseller: NASA-Alamy)

NASA, SpaceX ile anlaştı

En Çok okunanlar.

DSÖ'den Maymun Çiçeği açıklaması: Durdurulabilir

Telegram'ın kurucusu Fransa'da gözaltına alındı! Macron'dan flaş açıklama

Çin’e ‘YÜZDE 100’ şoku! Bir darbe de Kanada’dan… Başbakan Trudeau duyurdu

Kick Kennedy ihaneti mi ilişkiyi bitirdi! Jennifer Lopez ve Ben Affleck'in ayrılık nedeni Kick Kennedy mi?

Kuzey Kore lideri Kim'den 'intihar dronu' talimatı

Maymun çiçeği (mpox) vakalarına dair dikkat çeken veriler: En çok çocukları etkiledi!

Voyager 2: An iconic spacecraft that's still exploring 45 years on

The interstellar vagabond continues to explore the cosmos along with its twin, Voyager 1.

Voyager 2 as the backup

Jupiter and saturn flyby, uranus and neptune flyby, voyager 2's interstellar adventure, voyager 2's legacy, additional information.

Voyager 2, was the first of two twin probes NASA sent to investigate the outer planets of our solar system. 

The probe was launched aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 (previously Launch Complex 41) on Aug. 20, 1977, its twin spacecraft Voyager 1 was launched about two weeks later on Sept. 5. NASA planned for the Voyager spacecraft to take advantage of an alignment of the outer planets that takes place only every 176 years. The alignment would allow both probes to swing from one planet to the next, with a gravity boost to help them along the way.

While Voyager 1 focused on Jupiter and Saturn , Voyager 2 visited both those planets and also ventured to Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2's mission to those last two planets would be humanity's only visit in the 20th century.

Related: Celebrate 45 years of Voyager with these amazing images of our solar system (gallery)

Voyager 2 is now traveling through interstellar space. As of early November 2018, NASA announced that Voyager 2 had crossed the outer edge of our solar system ( Voyager 1 crossed the boundary into interstellar space in 2012. ) Voyager 2 is now approximately 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) away from Earth and counting!  

Although there was not enough money in Voyager 2's budget to guarantee it would still work when flying past Uranus and Neptune, its trajectory was designed to go past those planets anyway. If the spacecraft were still working after Saturn, NASA could try to take pictures of the other planets.

Voyager 2 was ready as a backup for Voyager 1. If Voyager 1 failed when taking pictures of Jupiter and Saturn, NASA was prepared to alter Voyager 2's path to follow Voyager 1's trajectory. It would cut off the Uranus and Neptune option, but still, preserve the possibility of capturing images.

The backup plan was never executed, though, because Voyager 1 went on to make many discoveries at Jupiter and Saturn, working well enough for NASA to carry out its original plans for Voyager 2.

Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in 1979, two years after launching from Cape Canaveral. Since Voyager 1 had just gone through the system four months earlier, Voyager 2's arrival allowed NASA to take valuable comparison shots of Jupiter and its moons. It captured changes in the Great Red Spot and also resolved some of the moon's surfaces in greater detail.

Voyager 2 took pictures of many of Jupiter's satellites. Among its most spectacular findings were pictures from the icy moon Europa . Voyager 2 snapped detailed photos of the icy moon's cracks from 128,000 miles (205,996 km) away and revealed no change in elevation anywhere on the moon's surface.

Proving that moons are abundant around the outer planets, Voyager 2 happened to image Adrastea, a small moon of Jupiter, only months after Voyager 1 found two other Jupiter moons, Thebe and Metis. Adrastea is exceptionally small, only about 19 miles (30.5 kilometers) in diameter at the smallest estimate.

Next in line was Saturn. Voyager 2  became the third spacecraft to visit Saturn when it arrived at its closest point to the ringed planet on Aug. 26, 1981, and took hundreds of pictures of the planet, its moons and its rings . Suspecting that Saturn might be circled by many ringlets, scientists conducted an experiment. They watched the star Delta Scorpii for nearly two and a half hours as it passed through the plane of the rings. As expected, the star's flickering light revealed ringlets as small as 330 feet (100 meters) in diameter. 

Voyager 2's made its closest approach to Uranus on Jan. 24, 1986, becoming the first spacecraft to visit the ice giant. The probe made several observations of the planet, noting that the south pole was facing the sun and that its atmosphere is about 85% hydrogen and 15% helium. 

Additionally, Voyager 2 discovered rings around Uranus, 10 new moons and a magnetic field that, oddly, was 55 degrees off the planet's axis. Astronomers are still puzzling over Uranus' orientation today.

Voyager 2's pictures of the moon Miranda revealed it to be perhaps the strangest moon in the solar system. Its jumbled-up surface appears as though it was pushed together and broken apart several times.

The spacecraft then made it to Neptune , reaching the closest point on Aug. 25, 1989. It skimmed about 3,000 miles from the top of the planet's atmosphere and spotted five new moons as well as four rings around the planet. Remarkably, Voyager 2 is currently the only human-made object to have flown by the intriguing ice giant, according to NASA .

On November 5, 2018, Voyager 2 crossed the heliopause — the boundary between the heliosphere and interstellar space. At this stage, the probe was 119 astronomical units from the sun. (One AU is the average Earth-sun distance, which is about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers.) Voyager 1 made the crossing at nearly the same distance, 121.6 AU.

According to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) , Voyager 2 has enough fuel to keep its instruments running until at least 2025. By then, the spacecraft will be approximately 11.4 billion miles (18.4 billion kilometers) away from the sun. 

But Voyager 2 is destined to roam the Milky Way long after its instruments have stopped working.

In about 40,000 years Voyager 2 will pass 1.7 light-years (9.7 trillion miles) from the star Ross 248, according to NASA JPL. The cosmic vagabond will continue its journey through interstellar space and pass 4.3 light-years, (25 trillion miles) from Sirius in about 296,000 years. 

Voyager 2's observations paved the way for later missions. The Cassini spacecraft, which was at Saturn between 2004 and 2017, tracked down evidence of liquid water at the planet's icy moons several decades after the Voyagers initially revealed the possible presence of water. Cassini also mapped the moon, Titan , after the Voyagers took pictures of its thick atmosphere.

Voyager 2's images of Uranus and Neptune also serve as a baseline for current observations of those giant planets. In 2014, astronomers were surprised to see giant storms on Uranus — a big change from when Voyager 2 flew by the planet in 1986. 

To see where Voyager 2 is now you can check out the mission status with resources from NASA . Learn more about the iconic spacecraft with the National Air and Space Museum .  

Bibliography

NASA. In depth: Voyager 2. NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from www.solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/voyager-2/in-depth/

NASA. Voyager - mission status. NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from www.voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/

NASA. Voyager - the interstellar mission. NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from www. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar-mission

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

• Daisy Dobrijevic Reference Editor

Blue Origin's next space tourism flight will launch on Aug. 29

SpaceX 'go' to launch private Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission on farthest human spaceflight since Apollo

SpaceX delays Polaris Dawn astronaut launch to Aug. 28 due to helium leak

Most Popular

• 2 SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts will conduct high-flying research in Earth orbit
• 3 Blue Origin's next space tourism flight will launch on Aug. 29
• 4 Mattel rolling out Matchbox toy of SpaceX's Tesla astronaut transport
• 5 SpaceX fires up Falcon 9 rocket ahead of Polaris Dawn astronaut launch (photos)

• Israel-Gaza War
• War in Ukraine
• US Election
• US & Canada
• UK Politics
• N. Ireland Politics
• Scotland Politics
• Wales Politics
• Latin America
• Middle East
• In Pictures
• Executive Lounge
• Technology of Business
• Women at the Helm
• Future of Business
• Science & Health
• Artificial Intelligence
• AI v the Mind
• Film & TV
• Art & Design
• Entertainment News
• Destinations
• Australia and Pacific
• Caribbean & Bermuda
• Central America
• North America
• South America
• World’s Table
• Culture & Experiences
• The SpeciaList
• Natural Wonders
• Weather & Science
• Climate Solutions
• Sustainable Business
• Green Living

Voyager 2: Nasa fully back in contact with lost space probe

Nasa is back in full contact with its lost Voyager 2 probe months earlier than expected, the space agency said.

In July a wrong command was made to the spacecraft, sent to explore space in 1977, changing its position and severing contact.

A signal was picked up on Tuesday but thanks to an "interstellar shout" - a powerful instruction - its antenna is now back facing Earth.

Nasa had originally pinned hopes on the spacecraft resetting itself in October.

It took 37 hours for mission controllers to figure out if the interstellar command had worked as Voyager 2 is billions of miles away from Earth.

Staff used the "highest-power transmitter" to send a message to the spacecraft and timed it to be sent during "the best conditions" so the antenna lined up with the command, Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd told AFP.

After communications were lost, the probe had been unable to receive commands or send back data to Nasa's Deep Space Network - an array of giant radio antennas across the world.

But the space agency confirmed on 4 August that data had been received from the spacecraft and it was operating normally.

Nasa expects the spacecraft laden with science instruments to remain on its planned trajectory through the universe.

On Monday, the space agency said its huge dish in Australia's capital, Canberra, was trying to detect any stray signals from Voyager 2. This was when the first faint " heartbeat " signal was heard.

The antenna had been bombarding Voyager 2's area with the correct command, in the hope of somehow making contact, Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Voyager missions, said.

The probe is programmed to reset its position multiple times each year to keep its antenna pointing at Earth. The next reset is due on 15 October, which Nasa had rested its hopes on if all other attempts had failed.

Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 are the only spacecraft ever to operate outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun. They reached interstellar space in 2018 and 2012 respectively.

The probes were designed to take advantage of a rare alignment of outer planets, which occurs about every 176 years, to explore Jupiter and Saturn.

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft ever to fly by Neptune and Uranus, while Voyager 1 is now nearly 15 billion miles away from Earth, making it humanity's most distant spacecraft.

Once both spacecraft run out of power - expected sometime after 2025 - they will continue roaming through space.

Nasa picks up 'heartbeat' signal from lost space probe

Voyager: journey beyond the solar system, nasa 're-masters' the greatest ever 'selfie', voyagers shed light on solar system's structure, voyager 2 probe 'leaves solar system'.

Voyager 2 Enters Final Planetary Encounter

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft today entered the observatoryphase of its flyby of Neptune, signaling the beginning of its final planetary encounter after nearly 12 years of exploring the outer solar system.

Voyager mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will now be tracking the spacecraft around the clock as Voyager begins taking systematic images of Neptune and sending back about 50 pictures day.

"Now that we've entered the observatory phase we'll be taking about six images every three hours to study changes in the atmosphere from rotation to rotation," said Dr. Ellis Miner, Voyager deputy project scientist.

Signals from Voyager 2 marking the beginning of the observatory phase were received at 3:40 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. This official start of the Neptune encounter places Voyager at the top of the priority list of spacecraft being tracked by the NASA/JPL Deep Space Network. Before today, Voyager had to compete with other projects for DSN coverage. During the observatory phase, the spacecraft will be monitored at regular intervals by more than one antenna at each of the DSN sites in California, Spain and Australia.

In addition to taking images of the planet, Voyager 2 will also be making systematic ultraviolet observations of Neptune looking for any auroral activity and escaping gases. Calibrations of the spacecraft's instruments will also be done in preparation for critical near-encounter observations.

In observations of Neptune made by Voyager 2 in late 1988 and January of 1989, scientists saw bright spot in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Since January, that spot has dimmed and larger dark area has been seen in the images. Recently, the bright spot has begun to brighten again and other spots are becoming apparent. Neptune's atmosphere has also revealed regions of dark banding near its southern pole and similar banding has been seen north of the planet's equator.

Voyager's observatory phase ends and its far encounter phase starts on Aug. 6, 1989.

The near-encounter phase of the mission includes Voyager's closest approach to Neptune at 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Aug. 24, 1989, when the spacecraft passes just 4,850 kilometers (3,000 miles) from the planet's cloud tops. Five hours later, the spacecraft will fly about 39,000 kilometers (24,000 miles) from the planet's major moon Triton.

Voyager 2 is now 117 million kilometers (73 million miles) from Neptune. The Neptune flyby will be Voyager 2's fourth and final planetary encounter before the spacecraft heads out of the solar system to explore interstellar space.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 have encountered Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 went on to fly by Uranus in January 1986 while Voyager 1 continues its trek out of the solar system.

Now 4.271 billion kilometers (2.654 billion miles) from Earth, Voyager 2 is so far away that data radioed at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) take nearly four hours to reach Earth. Voyager's images are being recorded on the spacecraft's tape recorders and will be played back to Earth beginning Tuesday morning.

The Voyager project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Voyager 2 Has Entered the Space Between Solar Systems

It is the second spacecraft to make the crossing into interstellar space, providing a new look at what lies beyond our local galactic neighborhood.

Voyager’s 40th Anniversary

Long after they have stopped communicating with earth, the twin voyager spacecraft will forever drift among the stars..

Forty years ago, in August and September of 1977, a band of humans launched a pair of robots to explore the solar system and probe the infinite darkness beyond. “3, 2, 1. We have ignition and we have liftoff!” Taking advantage of a rare planetary alignment, the twin Voyager spacecraft raced outward toward Jupiter, then used the giant planet’s gravity to slingshot on to Saturn. At Saturn they parted company. Voyager 1 turned upward, leaving the plane of the planets and heading toward interstellar space. But Voyager 2 kept trekking, spiraling outward on a grand tour of the outer planets, toward distant Uranus and Neptune. At each planetfall, fuzzy dots bloomed into worlds. Every image sent back to Earth was another lesson on nature’s ability to surprise. Voyager saw swirls within swirls in Jupiter’s banded jet streams. Volcanoes spouting sulphur on Jupiter’s moon Io, a tormented world twisted and pulled by gravity. And eggshell-smooth Europa, an icy shell around a hidden ocean. Two years after Jupiter, the Voyagers approached Saturn, jewel of the solar system. Its broad rings dissolved into thousands of grooves, like a phonograph record. Braided, kinked and patrolled by tiny moonlets. Voyager probed the methane skies of Titan. It slid past two-faced Iapetus, with light and dark sides. Giovanni Cassini’s disappearing moon. And Enceladus. Trapped under its crust of ice is another dark ocean, and perhaps living creatures. After Saturn, Voyager 1 turned away from the planets but Voyager 2 sailed on. Voyager found ghostly Uranus tipped on its side, its south pole facing the sun. A blue-green bulls eye with faint rings. Voyager slipped passed methane-blue Neptune, a pacific-looking world bruised with dark, violent hurricanes. Antennas on Earth strained to hear the trickle of data from almost 3 billion miles out. Voyager 2’s last port of call was Triton, Neptune’s biggest moon. A mottled ball of exotic ices, plumed with dark geysers of nitrogen. One final world added to Voyager’s tally. But the Voyager mission was not only to observe. Each spacecraft carried a message. A gold record, with a needle and instructions on how to play it. A time capsule from the 1970s, grooved with the sights and sounds of Earth. “I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of our solar system, into the universe, seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate.” Of all the voices ever recorded, of all the photographs ever taken, these few will survive the end of our planet. Scratches on gold, adrift in the void. A time capsule from the 1970s, grooved with the sights and sounds of Earth. Of all the voices ever recorded, of all the photographs ever taken, these few will survive the end of our planet. Scratches on gold, adrift in the void. As Voyager 1 climbed away from the planets, it turned its cameras backward. To snap a family portrait of the worlds it was leaving behind forever. The Earth appears as a bright pixel in a wash of scattered sunlight. A “Pale Blue Dot” in the words of astronomer and cosmic sage, Carl Sagan: “Consider again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. ... The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.” No other spacecraft have gone so far, or explored so many new worlds. In the fullness of galactic time the Voyagers might yet be found, but by then the human race could be long extinct. Long after they have ceased speaking to us, the twins will forever drift among the stars. Mute, but carrying sounds and greetings from home. “Hello from the children of Planet Earth” The last lonely evidence that we too once lived in this starry realm, on an island of ice and rock. As Carl Sagan put it: “A dust mote in a sunbeam.”

By Kenneth Chang

The Voyager 2 spacecraft is now in interstellar space, NASA announced on Monday, making it the second human-made machine to cross a boundary that divides our solar system from the rest of the Milky Way galaxy.

“We’ve been waiting with bated breath for the last couple of months for us to be able to see this,” Nicola Fox, director of NASA’s heliophysics division, said during a news conference at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington.

Voyager 2 follows its twin, Voyager 1, which made the crossing in 2012. This time the passage into interstellar space is yielding a different set of readings, with new clues to how the sun affects space in the far reaches of the solar system.

The two plutonium-powered spacecraft, launched in 1977 to make a tour of the giant planets , are still operational and continue to explore.

“Now we are fortunate enough to have two very brave sentinels that have left our heliosphere and are out truly looking at the other side of the boundary in our interstellar medium,” Dr. Fox said.

The heliosphere is a bubble of gases emanating outward from our sun, and it is buffeted by winds of interstellar particles that blow through the Milky Way. At greater distances, the solar wind diminishes and is overtaken by the interstellar flow.

“We’re inside this bubble the sun creates around itself,” said Edward C. Stone, the project scientist for the mission. “When Voyager was launched, we didn’t know how large the bubble was, we didn’t know how long it would take to get there, and we didn’t know if the spacecraft could last long enough to get there.”

Crossing the boundary, the spacecraft observed a distinct change in its environment.

“There are two winds pushing on each other,” Dr. Stone said, “the solar wind from the inside pushing out and the interstellar wind pushing back in, in balance.”

For Voyager 2, now more than 11 billion miles from Earth, that change occurred on Nov. 5. On that day, instruments aboard the spacecraft detected an increase in the strength of magnetic fields from the interstellar region, and the number of galactic cosmic rays, which originate from far beyond the solar system, jumped. At the same time, the solar wind petered out.

“We're not seeing the solar wind any more,” said John Richardson, the principal investigator for the plasma science experiment. “That means we must be in the interstellar medium.”

[ Sign up to get reminders for space and astronomy events on your calendar .]

The transition to interstellar space did not exactly mirror Voyager 1’s.

Dr. Stone said that Voyager 2 is headed in a different direction, and six years later, the sun is at a different point in its 11-year cycle. “We’re learning a lot about the differences as well as the commonalities,” he said.

Voyager 2’s plasma science experiment provided the first direct look at what happens to the solar wind as the spacecraft enters interstellar space. (Voyager 1 was not able to gather that data, because its plasma instrument failed in 1980.)

Dr. Richardson said the speed of the plasma dropped quickly just in front of the boundary. “We thought it would be a much more gradual decrease,” he said.

The Voyager mission will continue for some time. “Both spacecraft are very healthy if you consider them senior citizens,” said Suzanne Dodd, the project manager.

Ms. Dodd said she hoped the spacecraft could reach their 50th anniversary in 2027, although not all of the instruments will still be operating. As the plutonium power sources aboard the two probes decay, they each lose 4 watts of power each year. Over time, the scientists will have to turn off some of the instruments.

While the Voyagers, speeding away at more than 34,000 miles per hour, are now in interstellar space, they are still considered to be within the solar system, because they have not yet slipped the grip of the sun’s gravity.

In about 300 years, Dr. Stone said, they will enter the Oort cloud, a distant reservoir of comets orbiting the sun. And it will take about 30,000 years for the two spacecraft to come out the far side of the Oort cloud and definitively leave the solar system.

Kenneth Chang has been at The Times since 2000, writing about physics, geology, chemistry, and the planets. Before becoming a science writer, he was a graduate student whose research involved the control of chaos. More about Kenneth Chang

What’s Up in Space and Astronomy

Keep track of things going on in our solar system and all around the universe..

Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event  that’s out of this world with  our space and astronomy calendar .

A speeding star is traveling through the Milky Way at around a million miles an hour. It could be moving fast enough to break free from the gravitational clutches of the galaxy .

In 1924, a radio receiver built for the battlefields of World War I tested the idea that humans were not alone in the solar system, heralding a century of searches for extraterrestrial life .

A study adds strong evidence to the hypothesis that the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs  came from a family of objects that originally formed well beyond the orbit of the planet Jupiter.

Is Pluto a planet? And what is a planet, anyway? Test your knowledge here .

Screen Rant

Captain janeway’s top 7 star trek: voyager enemies, ranked.

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

10 Star Trek: Voyager Alien Villains Ranked, Worst To Best

6 multiverse timelines star trek can't erase, i’m glad voyager’s tom and b’elanna are no longer star trek's only successful romance.

Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) certainly never intended to make any enemies in Star Trek: Voyager , but being the captain of a Federation starship in the uncharted Delta Quadrant inevitably creates new foes for Captain Janeway. Brand-new Delta Quadrant aliens in Star Trek were created as antagonists and enemies for Captain Janeway and the crew of the USS Voyager , from the Kazon and Vidiians in earlier seasons of Star Trek: Voyager to Species 8472 and the Hirogen in Voyager 's second half. Despite Janeway's attempted alliance with them, the Borg are also an ongoing threat from Star Trek: Voyager season 4 until the series' end.

It's not just Star Trek 's new Delta Quadrant alien species in general that became Captain Janeway's enemies. Individual people in the Delta Quadrant also clashed with Janeway during the long journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, as Voyager entered their space or Captain Janeway's crew committed unknown offenses against them. These specific enemies have a much more personal bone to pick with Captain Kathryn Janeway ; they've got vendettas against Janeway up their sleeves, interstellar empires to rule, and forceful differences of opinion that Janeway just can't let slide.

New alien villains fought against Captain Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, but some foes were more successful than others.

7 Older Kes (Jennifer Lien)

Star trek: voyager season 6, episode 23 - "fury".

After Jennifer Lien left Star Trek: Voyager , Kes returns one more time in Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 23, "Fury". This Kes is hardened and angry, returning to the USS Voyager near the end of her life to exact vengeance on Captain Kathryn Janeway with the titular telekinetic fury ... and a phaser.

"Find another way home. Captain Janeway will help you if you give her a chance. Try to remember who you were. Try to remember me. " - Kes, Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 23, "Fury"

Kes blames her suffering on the misremembered claims that Janeway forced Kes' departure from Voyager several years earlier. Strategic time travel allows Janeway to connect Kes with her younger self before sending the elder Ocampa on her way, erasing the whole ordeal.

6 Arturis (Ray Wise)

Star trek: voyager season 4, episode 26 - "hope and fear".

In Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episode 26, "Hope and Fear", an unexpected consequence of Janeway's alliance with the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager season 4 arises with the arrival of Arturis (Ray Wise), who claims that Janeway's aid in defeating Species 8472 freed up Borg resources to assimilate more Delta Quadrant species. After thousands of years keeping the Borg at bay, Arturis' people were assimilated. Arturis' revenge plot appeals to Janeway's desire to bring her crew home, in the form of the USS Dauntless, a fake Federation starship with a quantum slipstream drive that will deliver Janeway directly to the Borg for her own assimilation.

Admiral Janeway's USS Dauntless in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 is named after the fake Starfleet ship from "Hope and Fear".

5 Kashyk (Mark Harelik)

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 10 - "counterpoint".

Kashyk (Mark Harelik), an inspector for the telepath-hating Devore, becomes Captain Janeway's enemy through deception and betrayal, which is almost worse than actual military strikes against Voyager. In Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 10, "Counterpoint", Janeway secretly harbors telepathic Brenari refugees while Voyager is in Devore space.

Inspector Kashyk convinces Janeway that he's seen the error of his ways, and wants to change. Over repeated meetings, Janeway easily falls for the cultured and curious Kashyk, but becoming Captain Janeway's love interest turns out to be an act to earn Kathryn's trust and get to the Brenari hidden in Voyager's transporter buffer.

4 The Clown (Michael McKean)

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 23 - "the thaw".

In Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 23, "The Thaw", the Clown is an antagonist for more than just Captain Janeway, but it's Janeway who ultimately emerges victorious in a battle of wits against the Clown. The Clown is the manifestation of fear that exists within a neural network , created from the minds of the 5 people hooked to the network. In order to generate a constant supply of fear and ensure his survival, the Clown makes the network hellish for his victims, and refuses to let them leave. Anyone engaging with the Clown is trapped in the network with him, so how can anyone defeat him?

Captain Janeway sets herself up as the ultimate prize for the Clown, demanding the release of the Clown's hostages -- which includes Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) -- in exchange for Janeway herself. The catch is that this is a holographic version of Captain Janeway instead of the real thing, and the Clown can't feed off of an inorganic mind . "Drat," indeed.

The Clown reappears in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 1, "Twovix", as one of 3 famous holographic characters from Star Trek: Voyager who get activated by the USS Cerritos crew.

3 Captain Rudolph Ransom (John Savage)

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 26 & season 6, episode 1 - "equinox".

Captain Rudolph Ransom of the USS Equinox is a victim of the same fate that originally befell Janeway and the USS Voyager, as a Federation starship that was brought to the other side of the galaxy by the Caretaker. The difference is that while Janeway held tight to Starfleet ideals, Ransom abandoned respect for sentient life and murdered innocent non-corporeal life forms to create fuel for a faster journey to the Alpha Quadrant. Ransom tries to justify his actions by saying the Federation is out of reach, so the Equinox crew did what they must to survive, but Janeway nonetheless holds Ransom accountable.

Captain Janeway has privileges that Captain Ransom didn't.

In response, Ransom points out that Captain Janeway has privileges that Captain Ransom didn't. The USS Voyager is a more advanced starship than the Equinox, and Voyager gained crew members from Commander Chakotay's Maquis raider to replace lives lost on the initial journey. The Equinox's experience as an Alpha Quadrant vessel in the Delta Quadrant wasn't so lucky. Both Janeway and Ransom are committed to the survival and safety of their crews, and Ransom challenges Janeway to consider whether she would have also abandoned Starfleet ideals if the circumstances were swapped.

2 Annorax of the Krenim Imperium (Kurtwood Smith)

Star trek: voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9 - "year of hell".

While Captain Janeway hates time travel , and does her best to avoid time anomalies, Annorax of the Krenim Imperium (Kurtwood Smith) embraces the ability to use time as a weapon. With Krenim time weapons that erase people, ships, and entire planets from existence, Annorax continues to alter the timeline to increase the size and influence of the Imperium. When the USS Voyager becomes the proverbial fly in the ointment that seems to prevent Annorax from reviving his accidentally erased family, Annorax sets his sights on erasing Janeway and her crew.

Throughout Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9, "Year of Hell", Voyager suffers heavy losses as a result of Annorax's targeted attacks. Even with the losses, and the Krenim's advanced technology handily outpacing Voyager's, Janeway's tenacity still matches Annorax's. Only when it seems like there's nothing left to lose does Janeway make the sacrifice play that saves the Voyager crew and the timeline.

Some Star Trek timelines have to continue to exist in the multiverse, even if it seems like they've been overwritten.

1 The Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige)

Star trek: voyager seasons 5–7.

Captain Janeway's most formidable individual enemy in Star Trek: Voyager is undoubtedly the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige) . From the time the USS Voyager enters Borg space in Star Trek: Voyager season 3's cliffhanger, "Scorpion, Part 1", the Borg Queen is unseen, but watching Janeway through the eyes of Borg drones. Captain Janeway's liberation of Seven of Nine may have been the biggest insult against the Borg Queen , who tried to lure Seven back to the collective in Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16 "Dark Frontier".

Despite appearing in only four episodes of Star Trek: Voyager , the Borg Queen has a lasting impact on Captain Janeway's life . Star Trek: Voyager 's finale, "Endgame", shows that in Janeway's original timeline, the USS Voyager takes 23 years to reach the Alpha Quadrant. After years of research and development on anti-Borg weaponry, Admiral Janeway goes back in time to destroy the Borg Queen. Janeway's neurolytic pathogen successfully infects the Borg, leaving the Borg Queen little more than a shell of her former self. Of all Janeway's enemies in Star Trek: Voyager , only the Borg Queen can inspire that kind of animosity in Janeway herself.

Star Trek: Voyager

Not available

Suggested Searches

• Climate Change
• Expedition 64
• Mars perseverance
• SpaceX Crew-2
• International Space Station
• View All Topics A-Z

Humans in Space

Earth & climate, the solar system, the universe, aeronautics, learning resources, news & events.

Work Is Under Way on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter

Webb Finds Early Galaxies Weren’t Too Big for Their Britches After All

New NASA Study Tallies Carbon Emissions From Massive Canadian Fires

• Search All NASA Missions
• A to Z List of Missions
• Upcoming Launches and Landings
• Spaceships and Rockets
• Communicating with Missions
• James Webb Space Telescope
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Why Go to Space
• Commercial Space
• Destinations
• Living in Space
• Explore Earth Science
• Earth, Our Planet
• Earth Science in Action
• Earth Multimedia
• Earth Science Researchers
• Pluto & Dwarf Planets
• Asteroids, Comets & Meteors
• The Kuiper Belt
• The Oort Cloud
• Skywatching
• The Search for Life in the Universe
• Black Holes
• The Big Bang
• Dark Energy & Dark Matter
• Earth Science
• Planetary Science
• Astrophysics & Space Science
• The Sun & Heliophysics
• Biological & Physical Sciences
• Lunar Science

Citizen Science

• Astromaterials
• Aeronautics Research
• Human Space Travel Research
• Science in the Air
• NASA Aircraft
• Flight Innovation
• Supersonic Flight
• Air Traffic Solutions
• Green Aviation Tech
• Drones & You
• Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
• Space Travel Technology
• Technology Living in Space
• Manufacturing and Materials
• Science Instruments
• For Kids and Students
• For Educators
• For Colleges and Universities
• For Professionals
• Science for Everyone
• Requests for Exhibits, Artifacts, or Speakers
• STEM Engagement at NASA
• NASA's Impacts
• Centers and Facilities
• Directorates
• Organizations
• People of NASA
• Internships
• Our History
• Doing Business with NASA
• Get Involved

NASA en Español

• Aeronáutica
• Ciencias Terrestres
• Sistema Solar
• All NASA News
• Video Series on NASA+
• Newsletters
• Social Media
• Media Resources
• Upcoming Launches & Landings
• Virtual Guest Program
• Image of the Day
• Sounds and Ringtones
• Interactives
• STEM Multimedia

FAQ: NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Return Status

NASA’s Europa Clipper Gets Set of Super-Size Solar Arrays

NASA, Boeing Optimizing Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay for Future SLS Stage Production

NASA Seeks Input for Astrobee Free-flying Space Robots

NASA Funds Studies to Support Crew Performance on Long-Duration Missions

NASA Project in Puerto Rico Trains Students in Marine Biology

STV Precursor Coincident Datasets

Eclipse Soundscapes AudioMoth Donations Will Study Nature at Night

Hubble Traces Star Formation in a Nearby Nebula

Hubble Pinpoints a Dim, Starry Mini-galaxy

First NASA-Supported Researcher to Fly on Suborbital Rocket

NASA Discovers a Long-Sought Global Electric Field on Earth

NASA Develops Pod to Help Autonomous Aircraft Operators 

NASA Composite Manufacturing Initiative Gains Two New Members

Beyond the Textbook: DC-8 Aircraft Inspires Students in Retirement

Solar Panels for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Pass Key Tests

How Do I Navigate NASA Learning Resources and Opportunities?

Cassiopeia A, Then the Cosmos: 25 Years of Chandra X-ray Science

Preguntas frecuentes: estado del retorno de la prueba de vuelo tripulado boeing de la nasa.

Astronauta de la NASA Frank Rubio

Diez maneras en que los estudiantes pueden prepararse para ser astronautas

Nasa’s voyager will do more science with new power strategy, jet propulsion laboratory, power to the probes, more about the mission.

The plan will keep Voyager 2’s science instruments turned on a few years longer than previously anticipated, enabling yet more revelations from interstellar space.

Editor’s note: Language was added in the second paragraph on May 1 to underscore that the mission will continue even after a science instrument is retired.

Launched in 1977, the Voyager 2 spacecraft is more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) from Earth, using five science instruments to study interstellar space. To help keep those instruments operating despite a diminishing power supply, the aging spacecraft has begun using a small reservoir of backup power set aside as part of an onboard safety mechanism. The move will enable the mission to postpone shutting down a science instrument until 2026, rather than this year.

Switching off a science instrument will not end the mission. After shutting off the one instrument in 2026, the probe will continue to operate four science instruments until the declining power supply requires another to be turned off. If Voyager 2 remains healthy, the engineering team anticipates the mission could potentially continue for years to come

Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 are the only spacecraft ever to operate outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun. The probes are helping scientists answer questions about the shape of the heliosphere and its role in protecting Earth from the energetic particles and other radiation found in the interstellar environment.

“The science data that the Voyagers are returning gets more valuable the farther away from the Sun they go, so we are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible,” said Linda Spilker, Voyager’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission for NASA.

Both Voyager probes power themselves with radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. The continual decay process means the generator produces slightly less power each year. So far, the declining power supply hasn’t impacted the mission’s science output, but to compensate for the loss, engineers have turned off heaters and other systems that are not essential to keeping the spacecraft flying.

With those options now exhausted on Voyager 2, one of the spacecraft’s five science instruments was next on their list. (Voyager 1 is operating one less science instrument than its twin because an instrument failed early in the mission. As a result, the decision about whether to turn off an instrument on Voyager 1 won’t come until sometime next year.)

In search of a way to avoid shutting down a Voyager 2 science instrument, the team took a closer look at a safety mechanism designed to protect the instruments in case the spacecraft’s voltage – the flow of electricity – changes significantly. Because a fluctuation in voltage could damage the instruments, Voyager is equipped with a voltage regulator that triggers a backup circuit in such an event. The circuit can access a small amount of power from the RTG that’s set aside for this purpose. Instead of reserving that power, the mission will now be using it to keep the science instruments operating.

Although the spacecraft’s voltage will not be tightly regulated as a result, even after more than 45 years in flight, the electrical systems on both probes remain relatively stable, minimizing the need for a safety net. The engineering team is also able to monitor the voltage and respond if it fluctuates too much. If the new approach works well for Voyager 2, the team may implement it on Voyager 1 as well.

“Variable voltages pose a risk to the instruments, but we’ve determined that it’s a small risk, and the alternative offers a big reward of being able to keep the science instruments turned on longer,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager’s project manager at JPL. “We’ve been monitoring the spacecraft for a few weeks, and it seems like this new approach is working.”

The Voyager mission was originally scheduled to last only four years, sending both probes past Saturn and Jupiter. NASA extended the mission so that Voyager 2 could visit Neptune and Uranus; it is still the only spacecraft ever to have encountered the ice giants. In 1990, NASA extended the mission again, this time with the goal of sending the probes outside the heliosphere. Voyager 1 reached the boundary in 2012, while Voyager 2 (traveling slower and in a different direction than its twin) reached it in 2018.

A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL built and operates the Voyager spacecraft. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/voyager

Calla Cofield Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-808-2469 [email protected]

The Golden Record

Launched in 1977, both Voyager spacecraft carry a unique 'time capsule' along with them into interstellar space.

A Kind of Time Capsule

Pioneers 10 and 11, which preceded Voyager, both carried small metal plaques identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future. With this example before them, NASA placed a more ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2, a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.

The Golden Record Cover

The record's protective cover includes with instructions for playing its contents, finding Earth in the cosmos, and dating how long it has been in space.

What's on the Record?

The record features images and a variety of natural sounds, such thunder, birds, musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings in 55 languages.

History and Manufacturing

Many people were instrumental in the design, development and manufacturing of the golden record.

Discover More Topics From NASA