The Never-Ending Voyager Missions (Encore)

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

This encore episode explores the enduring legacy of NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 missions, which launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uran

Key takeaways

• Voyager spacecraft are still operational after over 45 years due to efficient power management and robust engineering.
• The probes' RTGs, using plutonium-238 decay, have degraded but still provide enough power for essential systems.

Main topics

• Voyager missions
• Interstellar exploration

Notable quotes

A radio signal traveling from Voyager 1 to Earth takes 23 hours and 19 minutes — almost a full light day away.

Conclusion

Though Voyager 1 and 2 will eventually cease communication with Earth due to power depletion,

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) The following is an Encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily. In 1977, NASA took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime alignment of the planets to send two probes to the outermost reaches of the solar system. They sent back the best images and data available at that time about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The program was a smashing success. However, the probes never stopped traveling. They kept going and going, all the while maintaining contact with Earth. They ended up teaching us far more about the solar system than we ever expected. Learn more about the never-ending Voyager program and how spacecraft a half-century old are still performing valuable science on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Speaker 3 (1:01) Comprehensive. Speaker 2 (1:02) Witty. Speculative. Speaker 3 (1:03) Critical. Insightful. Profound. Speaker 1 (1:05) Wide-ranging. Speaker 3 (1:06) Hopefully doesn't take itself too, too seriously. Speaker 2 (1:09) I'm David Remnick, and each week on The New Yorker Radio Hour, my colleagues and I try to make sense of what's happening in this chaotic world. I hope you'll join us for The New Yorker Radio Hour wherever you listen to podcasts. Speaker 3 (1:22) Thoughtful. Exquisite. Just, you know, real. Speaker 3 (1:30) I've been having a hard time trying to explain what Midnight Burger is. How about I let them give it a shot? Speaker 1 (1:37) Your podcast is amazing. It's Speaker 3 (1:38) such an amazing show altogether. You Speaker 1 (1:40) guys Speaker 3 (1:40) have actively ruined all other audio dramas for me. You can't get people to understand the humaning that happens in this damn show. Keep doing what you're doing because it's awesome. You might not Speaker 2 (1:49) think it, but you are far more important than you realize. Thank you. At Speaker 3 (1:53) the nexus of all things, there is a diner. Look for Midnight Burger on your favorite podcasting app. or just go to weopenat6.com. The Speaker 1 (2:07) Voyager 1 and 2 missions have been mentioned in several previous episodes of the podcast. They were first mentioned in the episode on the Golden Record, which was attached to each spacecraft to teach anyone who might find it centuries or thousands of years from now about our world. Likewise, there were episodes on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as the Kuiper Belt, which also featured the Voyager missions. As the missions were planned, both Voyagers 1 and 2 were considered a success. Voyager 1 made a flyby of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Voyager 2 also did a flyby of Jupiter and Saturn, and became the first probe ever to fly by Uranus and Neptune. After Voyager 1's flyby of Saturn in November of 1990, the mission objectives had all been completed. It moved into what was called its interstellar mission. Many of the team members who had been assembled for the program ended up moving on to other things. However, while the primary mission objectives were technically over, the spacecraft were not. While each Voyager probe was sent on a different trajectory, they were each still on the courses set by their gravitational slingshots. Moreover, Each of the spacecraft had enough power to last for decades, albeit at varying capacities. So the first part in understanding how it is even possible for these probes to still be operating is understanding their power sources. Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators, or RTGs. Each Voyager probe was equipped with three multi-hundred watt RTGs. They're mounted on a boom extending from the body