00readme.txt - NSSDCftp Directory Version - 2005-05-09 JFC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NSSDCftp Mission Data Set Directory for Voyager 2 This directory includes information on the Voyager 2 mission and subdirectories holding data sets, documents, and software from the spacecraft and science experiments. This site is jointly maintained by the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) and the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subdirectories magnetic_fields - Data from the Triaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer Experiment, Bartol Research Institute / NASA GSFC plasma - Data from the Plasma Science (PLS) Experiment, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology merged - Merged and hourly averaged interplanetary solar wind plasma, magnetic field, and spacecraft trajectory data set compiled by NSSDC particle - Data from two energetic particle/cosmic ray experiments (CRS, LECP) traj - Spacecraft ephemeris data set from NSSDC's Satellite Situation Center (SSC) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information Files voyager2_update.txt: notices on Voyager 2 mission data set additions and updates ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Mission Information The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched from Earth in Sept. 1977 for planetary encounters with Jupiter in July 1979, Saturn in Aug. 1981, Uranus in Jan. 1986, and Neptune in Aug. 1989, thereafter following a solar system escape trajectory directed somewhat southward of the Ecliptic. The current mission phase is called the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) and seeks to explore the space environment of the outer helisphere and to search for the outer heliosopheric boundaries including the solar wind termination shock, where solar flow becomes subsonic, and the heliopause, the contact boundary with the interstellar medium. The following table gives the dates, times, and jovian radii (1 Rj = 71,492 km; 1 Rs = 60,330 km; 1 Ru = 25,560 km; 1 Rn = 24,770 km) when Voyager 2 first entered and last existed the magnetospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, these being the intervals for which interplanetary data are not available. Event Year/Day/Time Radius Year-Month-Day Jupiter Entry 1979/183/16:19 98.9 Rj 1979-07-02 Exit 1979/215/17:03 283.3 Rj 1979-08-03 Saturn Entry 1981/236/13:37 31.5 Rs 1981-08-24 Exit 1981/243/01:09 87.0 Rs 1981-08-31 Uranus Entry 1986/024/07:25:00 23.7 Ru 1986-01-24 Exit 1986/029/06:06:25 227.7 Ru 1986-01-29 Neptune Entry 1989/236/14:38 34.9 Rn 1989-08-24 Exit 1989/240/06:00 161.1 Rn 1989-08-28 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Related data and directories Voyager Mission Page at NSSDC Space Physics Data Facility Home Page NASA Voyager Mission Project Page (JPL) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Voyager 2 SPDF/NSSDC Data Contacts The SPDF Discipline Scientist for the Voyager 2 mission is Dr. John F. Cooper. () General questions on Voyager 2 and other missions with data at NSSDC may also be addressed to the NSSDC Coordinated Request and User Support Office (CRUSO). () ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgements Please acknowledge the NASA National Space Science Data Center and the Space Physics Data Facility for usage of Voyager 2 data from this site in publications and presentations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Official: Dr. Robert E. McGuire, Head, SPDF