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Voyager 2 facts for kids

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Voyager 2
Model of a small-bodied spacecraft with a large, central dish and many arms and antennas extending from it
Model of the Voyager spacecraft design
Mission type Planetary exploration
Operator NASA / JPL
Mission duration 46 years, 6 months and 28 days elapsed
Planetary mission: 12 years, 1 month, 12 days
Interstellar mission: 34 years, 5 months and 17 days elapsed (continuing)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass 825.5 kilograms (1,820 lb)
Power 470 watts (at launch)
Start of mission
Launch date August 20, 1977, 14:29:00 (1977-08-20UTC14:29Z) UTC
Rocket Titan IIIE
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-41
Flyby of Jupiter
Closest approach July 9, 1979, 22:29:00 UTC
Distance 570,000 kilometers (350,000 mi)
Flyby of Saturn
Closest approach August 26, 1981, 03:24:05 UTC
Distance 101,000 km (63,000 mi)
Flyby of Uranus
Closest approach January 24, 1986, 17:59:47 UTC
Distance 81,500 km (50,600 mi)
Flyby of Neptune
Closest approach August 25, 1989, 03:56:36 UTC
Distance 4,951 km (3,076 mi)
Flagship
← Viking 2

Voyager 2 is a spacecraft used by NASA to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It is the only spacecraft that has come near to Uranus and Neptune. Because of this, a majority of pictures we see of these two ice planets came from this spacecraft. It was identical in form to its sister ship, Voyager 1. The probe is currently moving away from the solar system, and is heading out into interstellar space.

Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977.

Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 include the Voyager Golden Record, which is a recording of sounds and images of life on Earth. It was designed by a team headed by Carl Sagan to communicate with extraterrestrial life.

In 2018, NASA announced that Voyager 2 had reached the heliopause on 5 November of that year.

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Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Voyager 2 para niños

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