Luis Batalha(@luismbat):Today I learned that Voyager 2 launched before Voyager 1! The names refer to their planned missions, not launch order. - Voyager 2 took a slower trajectory designed to continue past Jupiter and Saturn to Uranus and Neptune, so it had to launch first to hit the required planetary alignment. - Voyager 1 launched later on a faster route to Jupiter and Saturn.

2026.08.19 17:47

Today I learned that Voyager 2 launched before Voyager 1! The names refer to their planned missions, not launch order. - Voyager 2 took a slower trajectory designed to continue past Jupiter and Saturn to Uranus and Neptune, so it had to launch first to hit the required planetary alignment. - Voyager 1 launched later on a faster route to Jupiter and Saturn.

Fermat's Library@fermatslibrary

2026.08.19 17:43

Voyager 2 launched exactly 49 years ago today - 16 days before Voyager 1, which took a faster trajectory and overtook it. Voyager 2 remains the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune and is still communicating with Earth from interstellar space, over 13 billion miles away.