After 42 years of the launching, the space probe Voyager 2 finally enters the Interstellar Space. This is the only space probe to visit the ice giants. Let’s have a look at the achievements of the Voyager 2 mission.

Achievements of Voyager 2 Mission: 

Neptune Achievements

It is the one and only human-made craft that have been flown by the planet Neptune.  It passed less than five thousand kilometers above the Neptune’s cloud tops. The craft did this in the closest approach of the planet’s whole tour. The probe discovered 5 moons, 4 rings, and a ‘Great Dark Spot’ which disappeared by the time the Hubble Space Telescope represented the planet 5 years later.

Saturn Achievements

The space probe provided a close-range look at the planet Saturn and the moons of it.  It observed the Saturn’s rings at very high resolution. With this, it discovered many more ringlets. For this, it used an instrument photopolarimeter that failed when used with Voyager 1. It is the 3rd spacecraft which visited Saturn. Its motto was to follow up on the data and the pictures that Voyager 1 had returned.

Jupiter Achievements

This space probe is used not only for studying Jupiter, but also for using it as a springboard to the planet. It used a gravity-assist technique for this. Voyager 2 explored the planet, its moons, and magnetosphere in more details compared to the Pioneer spacecraft which had preceded it.

Uranus Achievements

Voyager 2 is the 1st space probe which visited Uranus, following the flybys of Saturn and Jupiter. It is the only spacecraft that was flown by Uranus. This space probe didn’t display many details but it exhibited an ocean’s evidence having boiling water. It was eight hundred kilometers below cloud tops.

Overall Achievements

Voyager 2 is the only space probe that has studied all 4 giant planets of the solar system at very close range. Furthermore, this spacecraft is used to explore the outermost reaches of where the Sun’s magnetic field and the solar wind dominate space.