On This Day, November 12 1980

On this day, November 12 1980, Voyager 1 flies near Saturn. By doing this, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to do so. Humanity was always curious about the stars, astronomy is one of the world’s oldest scientific fields. In recent years, advances have been made that accelerate our progress in knowing, and understanding, our universe. Saturn was one planet that always fascinated astronomers. Its hypnotizing rings and many moons make it a very interesting subject. So when astronomers finally got to see Saturn up close, they were astounded by what they found. They found that Saturn did not just have six rings, as previously thought, but in fact, Saturn had hundreds of rings that all intertwined and laced themselves together in a way that made it look like only six rings to the untrained eye. Astronomers also received hi-res images, allowing astronomers to view the striking beauty of its rings in high definition. Voyager 1 did not stop there however, Voyager 1 continued to float towards the edge of our solar system all while transmitting data back to Earth. In fact, Voyager 1 is still transmitting data to this day, scientists guess that Voyager 1 will continue to transmit until 2020, that’s when the power source will cut out. However, Voyager 1 still wont be done, the derelict husk of the probe will continue to drift further and further into the heliopause. Voyager 1 and its sister craft, Voyager 2, both came outfitted with a gold disk containing information about earth and humanity, so that maybe, just maybe, some other alien race will find it, and then come and find us.

This even affected people back then because it showed everyone how beautiful things are outside of our tiny blue spec of life. It showed everyone how there is a whole universe out there, ready to be explored, with more beautiful things like this just waiting to be found. Of course, this also meant that astronomers could now receive and interpret data from Saturn and learn more about the Jovian planet. Things such as, what its atmosphere is composed of, what its rings are made of, how its rings are made, and Saturn’s gravity in itself.

This event still holds its importance today in many ways. Voyager 1 still continues to transmit data back to us as it drifts further and further out of our solar system. It doesn’t have much to transmit, however, out there where Voyager 1 is, there is nothing. No start, no planets, absolute void. Of course this data can be used to observe the effects of nothingness on the craft. On the other end, much of what is known about Saturn is based off of Voyager 1’s data, and Saturn continues to be studied today.