Twenty years ago today — August 25, 1989 — the Voyager-2 spacecraft made its closest approach to the planet Neptune. It was the first man-made craft to visit the distant planet.
Passing about 4,950 kilometers (3,000 miles) above Neptune’s north pole, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to any planet since leaving Earth 12 years ago. Five hours later, Voyager 2 passed about 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) from Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, the last solid body the spacecraft will have an opportunity to study.
You can read more about Voyager’s encounter with Neptune on this NASA page.
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Speaking of space history, I recently added a new history section to the North Carolina Aerospace Initiative web site. It’s part of our “aerospace education” function, and as we add to it I hope teachers and other folks will find interesting tidbits on it. Here’s the link to the first installment: August aerospace history.
Hope you enjoy it!
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