Voyager program

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/voyager-program

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the mission type?Interstellar and interplanetary robotic space exploration
2. What is the launch dates?Voyager 1: September 5, 1977; Voyager 2: August 20, 1977
3. Why were Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 launched in 1977?They were launched to use a special planet alignment that let the spacecraft visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune using gravity to boost their speed.
4. How did the Voyager spacecraft travel so far with little fuel?The spacecraft used gravity assists from the big planets to gain extra speed, letting them escape the Sun’s pull without needing huge engines.

Heliopause: The boundary where the solar wind's outward pressure is balanced by the interstellar medium's inward pressure.
Galactic Cosmic Rays: High-energy atomic nuclei originating from outside the solar system, traveling through space.
Planetary Magnetosphere: The region around a planet dominated by its magnetic field, deflecting charged particles.