OTD In Space – February 14: Voyager 1 Takes Solar System 'Family Portrait'
- 2 months ago
On February 14, 1990, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft took the first family portrait of the solar system!
Voyager 1 was on its way toward interstellar space after completing its grand tour of the solar system at the time. Carl Sagan spent years trying to convince NASA to have Voyager 1 turn around and take this picture on the way out. The picture is actually a mosaic that combines sixty frames. It shows Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Earth, which showed up as a tiny speck now famously known as the Pale Blue Dot.
Voyager 1 was on its way toward interstellar space after completing its grand tour of the solar system at the time. Carl Sagan spent years trying to convince NASA to have Voyager 1 turn around and take this picture on the way out. The picture is actually a mosaic that combines sixty frames. It shows Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Earth, which showed up as a tiny speck now famously known as the Pale Blue Dot.