July 7, 2014 - Postcards from Earth
Postcards from Earth Thirty-five years ago this week, the Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Jupiter. After a two-year journey from Earth, Voyager 2 completed a successful encounter with the solar system’s largest planet, including detailed observations of the Great Red Spot (above), a high-pressure storm similar to a hurricane but large enough to swallow three Earths. Voyager 2’s trajectory made use of Jupiter’s gravity to speed the spacecraft on toward Saturn (1981), Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989). Now headed for interstellar space, Voyager 2 and its sister ship, Voyager 1, offer greetings from Earth should they ever be discovered in space by intelligent life: both carry a gold-plated record containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
Image credit: NASA / JPL
Weekly Calendar
July 7-13, 2014
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 7
Saturn 0.4° north of Moon
1995: Final test flight of DC-X rocket
1998: First satellite launch from a submarine
2003: Mars rover Opportunity launched
Tuesday 8
1994: STS-65 Columbia launched
2009: First flight test of Max Launch Abort System
2011: STS-135 Atlantis launched, final shuttle mission
Wednesday 9
1945: White Sands Missile Range opens
1979: Voyager 2 flies past Jupiter
Thursday 10
1962: Telstar 1 launched, allowing transatlantic transmission of TV signals
1992: Giotto spacecraft flies past comet Grigg-Skjellerup
Friday 11
1962: NASA selects lunar orbit rendezvous method for lunar landings
1969: X-24A lifting body rolled out for first time
1979: Skylab reenters atmosphere
Saturday 12
Full Moon 7:25 AM ET
Mercury at greatest elongation (21° W)
Mars 1.4° N of Spica
1966: First glide test of M2-F2 lifting body
2000: Zvezda Service Module launched to ISS
2001: STS-104 Atlantis launched
Sunday 13
Moon at perigee