They are flying on a similar trajectory to a comet. They were able to do that by a series of fly bys. The planets happened to be almost lined up, something that happens only every 176 years.
Each planetary flyby provided a boost that gave extra delta v to take it to the next planet. In the process the planets slow down but only by insignificant amounts as the spacecraft are so much lighter than planets.
Voyager I did a close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, which was thought such an interesting target that they were able to
This shows an overview of how they did it.
About the slingshot maneuver: Space Busters
Voyager 2 is currently a little under fifteen light hours from Earth (Voyager 1 about three hours more). You can check the distance here, updated continuously: Where are the Voyagers
It gives the round trip light time, so divide by two to give the distance in light hours.
They use radioisotopes because they travel so far from the sun that solar panels would have to be enormous. They get energy from radioactive decay of Plutonium as a heat source.
Voyager - The Interstellar Mission - Power source
These continue to supply power indefinitely, but the amount of power supplied goes down gradually. By around 2025 they will no longer have enough power for the scientific instruments, so that's the final end of mission, when that happens.
Voyager - Spacecraft Lifetime
Each planetary flyby provided a boost that gave extra delta v to take it to the next planet. In the process the planets slow down but only by insignificant amounts as the spacecraft are so much lighter than planets.
Voyager I did a close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, which was thought such an interesting target that they were able to
This shows an overview of how they did it.
About the slingshot maneuver: Space Busters
Voyager 2 is currently a little under fifteen light hours from Earth (Voyager 1 about three hours more). You can check the distance here, updated continuously: Where are the Voyagers
It gives the round trip light time, so divide by two to give the distance in light hours.
They use radioisotopes because they travel so far from the sun that solar panels would have to be enormous. They get energy from radioactive decay of Plutonium as a heat source.
Voyager - The Interstellar Mission - Power source
These continue to supply power indefinitely, but the amount of power supplied goes down gradually. By around 2025 they will no longer have enough power for the scientific instruments, so that's the final end of mission, when that happens.
Voyager - Spacecraft Lifetime
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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