June 2, 2014 - Big Blue Giant

Big Blue Giant Twenty-five years ago this week, the Voyager 2 spacecraft was close enough (117 million km, or 73 million mi) to Neptune to begin regularly monitoring activity in Neptune’s atmosphere. This observatory phase was significant because it marked the beginning of Voyager 2’s final planetary port of call after a twelve-year voyage through the outer solar system. As it approached Neptune, Voyager 2 returned increasingly higher resolution images of Neptune’s Great Dark Spot and a smaller white feature known as Scooter, shown here from only 7 million km (4.4 million mi) away. Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 visited Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981, and Uranus in 1986. Voyager 2 and its sibling, Voyager 1, are now near the edge of interstellar space and are still in contact with Earth.

Image credit: NASA / JPL

Weekly Calendar

June 2-8, 2014

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 2

1930: Charles “Pete” Conrad born
1966: Surveyor 1 lands on Moon
1970: First glide test of M2-F3 lifting body
1998: STS-91 Discovery launched
2003: Mars Express / Beagle 2 launched

Tuesday 3

Moon at apogee

1948: 200-inch Hale telescope dedicated
1965: Gemini IV launched; Ed White takes America’s first space walk
1966: Gemini IX launched

Wednesday 4

1971: Last X-24A lifting body flight
1974: Construction begins on space shuttle Enterprise
2000: Compton Gamma Ray Observatory reenters atmosphere

Thursday 5

First Qtr Moon 4:39 PM ET

1819: John Couch Adams born
1989: Voyager 2 begins regular observations of Neptune
1991: STS-40 Columbia launched
2002: STS-111 Endeavour launched