Space Topics: Neptune
Missions to Neptune
Only one mission has visited Neptune.
Voyager 2
“Grand Tour” flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Launch: August 20, 1977
Neptune encounter: June 5 through October 2, 1989
Voyager 2 flew by Neptune on August 25, 1989. Since Neptune was the final target
for the spacecraft, scientists decided they could take risks they had avoided
during previous planetary encounters. They programmed Voyager 2 to fly within
5,000 kilometers (3,105 miles) of the planet's cloud tops, closer than it had
come to Jupiter, Saturn, or Uranus. The results were impressive. Even at such
a great distance from the Sun, the 4-hour time lag in communications and low
lighting conditions, the spacecraft returned 10,000 images of Neptune, its moons,
and ring system. Voyager 2 discovered interesting cloud features on the planet
and recorded some of the fastest winds in the solar system. The spacecraft also
discovered the clumpiness of Neptune’s rings, as well as six new moons. The
close approach to Neptune actually slowed Voyager 2’s speed with respect
to the Sun, and sent the spacecraft on a trajectory diving below the plane of
the solar system.
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