Voyager 2 becomes the second spacecraft to enter interstellar space

News: According to the researchers at the University of Iowa in the US, Voyager 2 has entered the interstellar medium (ISM). This has made Voyager 2 the second human-made object to journey out of the Sun’s influence. The first spacecraft to do so was Voyager 1 in 2012.

Facts:

About Voyager 2: Voyager 2 was launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer planets. Voyager 2 targeted Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Key achievements:

• Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to study all four of the solar system’s giant planets at close range.
• Voyager 2 discovered a 14th moon at Jupiter.
• Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly past Uranus.
• At Uranus, Voyager 2 discovered 10 new moons and two new rings.
• Voyager 2 was the first human-made object to fly by Neptune.
• At Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered five moons, four rings, and a “Great Dark Spot.- a huge spinning storm in the southern atmosphere of Neptune which was about the size of the entire Earth.

Additional Information

Interstellar medium (ISM):

• It is the matter and radiation that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays.