[20060926]RS22283_NASA的旅行者号航天器：情况说明书.pdf

Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS22283Updated September 26, 2006NASAs Voyager Spacecraft: A Fact Sheet Mark GurevitzInformation Research SpecialistKnowledge Services GroupSummaryVoyager 1 and 2 are identical spacecraft that were launched in 1977 with theoriginal mission of returning data from Jupiter, Saturn, and other planets as they flewpast them. Their current mission is to extend NASAs exploration of the outermost edgeof the solar system and the region where the suns influence ends. In the 29th year aftertheir 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the sun than Pluto.This report is updated regularly.HistoryVoyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977, from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboarda Titan-Centaur rocket. On September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 was launched, also from CapeCanaveral aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket. Voyager 1 was put into a faster, shortertrajectory, so it reached Jupiter first and returned data about Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager2 returned data about Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus. As identical spacecraft(Figure 1), their primary mission was the exploration of