BBC_Earth_Singapore_2017

THE VOYAGER PROBES

4. ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROMETER
   This was used for studying planetary atmospheres.

• Status: Off (both spacecraft)

5. COSMIC RAY SUBSYSTEM (CRS)
   The CRS looked for high energy particles being accelerated in the
   magnetic fields of the giant planets. Now it can detect cosmic rays.

• Status: On (both spacecraft)

8. HIGH GAIN ANTENNA
   This is how Voyager sends daily communication back to Earth. Signals
   were originally sent over two bands, but one band was shut off once
   the probes left the planets behind.

• Status: On (both spacecraft)

1. INFRARED INTERFEROMETER SPECTROMETER
   AND RADIOMETER (IRIS)
   Used to measure the brightness, temperature and chemical
   composition of the planets. Worked across ultraviolet, visible and
   infrared frequencies

• Status: Off (both spacecraft)

2. IMAGING SCIENCE SUBSYSTEM
   The probes’ eyes. Two television cameras, each with eight filters,
   mounted in a wheel that rotates in front of the lens.

• Status: Off (both spacecraft)

11. RADIOISOTOPE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR
    This is the power source of the Voyager probes. After 2020, engineers
    will begin turning more of their instruments off to preserve power.

• Status: On (both spacecraft)

7. LOW ENERGY CHARGED PARTICLE (LECP)
   One of the three particle sensors on board, it can detect particles
   with a broader range of energies than CRS or PLS.

• Status: On (both spacecraft)

9. MAGNETOMETER
   Originally measured the magnetic field of the planets. Now it is
   measuring changes in the Sun’s magnetic field at the boundary with
   interstellar space.

• Status: On (both spacecraft)

3. PLASMA SUBSYSTEM (PLS)
   As its name suggests, this looks for slow-moving particles in plasma

• a charged gas that has seen electrons stripped from atoms.


• Status: Off (Voyager 1)


• Status: On (Voyager 2)

6. PHOTOPOLARIMETER (PPS)
   A 20cm-aperture telescope capable of measuring the polarisation of light.

• Status: Off (both spacecraft)

10. PLANETARY RADIO ASTRONOMY (PRA)
    and PLASMA WAVE ANTENNA (PWA)
    Two radio antennas at right angles to each other. One is for low
    frequency radio waves, the other for high frequency.

• Status: PRA Off (both spacecraft)


• Status: PWA On (both spacecraft)

A closer look at the

instruments onboard

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