Voyager Program

Voyager Program, two unmanned U.S. probes of the outer solar system. Voyager 1 made close approaches to Jupiter in March 1979 and to Saturn in Nov. 1980. Voyager 2 bypassed Jupiter in July 1979, swung around Saturn in Aug. 1981, continued to Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. The probes provided remarkable close-up views of the two giant gas planets and their satellites, revealing, among other things, the existence of a ring around Jupiter, active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon lo and a completely unexpected complexity in Saturn's ring system.

See also: Space exploration.