Mar 5 1979
From The Space Library
March 5-6: Voyager 1 successfully met its objectives at the encounter with Jupiter, NASA reported, "streaking" past the planet, "threading its way among the five astounding satellites, and discovering that Jupiter, like Saturn and Uranus, is a ringed planet." The spacecraft had performed as predicted upon close approach, disappearing behind Jupiter for two hours, penetrating its flux tube, and passing close to both Ganymede and Callisto. It had been subject to hazards from Jupiter's enormous magnetosphere and high radiation; reception of emergency information and issuance of corrective orders would require more than an hours travel time to Earth and back. However, results were "beyond its creators' wildest dreams," especially the imagery of volcanic eruptions and other details on Jupiter's moons. NASA Administrator Robert A. Frosch and Deputy Administrator Alan Lovelace said "superlatives fail us." of am" The Voyager project manager, JPL's Robert Parks, called it "spectacularly successful." (NASA MOR S-802-77-01/02; mission status reports 38, 39)
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