Voyager 2 Launches: Journey to the Outer Planets
Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, sixteen days before Voyager 1, but its trajectory was slower. Its sister craft passed it and took the name that implied it went first. Voyager 2 had a different mission: visit all four outer planets. It flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — the only spacecraft ever to visit the last two. At Neptune in 1989, it photographed Triton's geysers and a Great Dark Spot that later disappeared. As of the 2020s, it's in interstellar space, still transmitting. Still moving away from us at 55,000 kilometers per hour.
August 20, 1977
49 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 20
Agrippa Postumus, the last surviving grandson of Augustus, was executed by his guards while in exile on the island of Planasia — almost certainly on orders from…
Khalid ibn al-Walid, whom Muhammad had nicknamed "The Sword of God," led Arab Muslim forces against a Byzantine army at the Battle of Yarmouk on August 20, 636.…
Tsar Simeon I crushed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Acheloos, ending the empire's dominance in the Balkans. This victory forced Constantinople to recogniz…
Pope Sylvester II sent a crown to Stephen I of Hungary, who was crowned on Christmas Day in the year 1000 (or possibly January 1, 1001), transforming a confeder…
Pope Gregory VII elevates Stephen I and his son Emeric to sainthood, transforming their legacy from royal rulers into spiritual patrons. This 1083 decree cement…
Pope Gregory VII canonized King Stephen I and his son Emeric, formalizing the Christian identity of the Hungarian state. By elevating the Arpad dynasty to saint…
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