Voyager mission telecommunication firsts

Abstract

The communications breakthroughs achieved during the NASA Voyager mission are discussed. The dual-spacecraft mission to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and their moons and rings was launched in 1977 and completed interplanetary phase some 12 years later with the Voyager 2 Neptune encounter in August 1989. The radio telemetry, coding, and navigation equipment of the spacecraft are examined in detail. Firsts achieved in the radio science area are also discussed. These include the fact that it was the first mission specifically designed to obtain radio-science data. It had very exacting requirements for radio system stability, both at S- and X-bands, and for frequency and timing system stability, both flight and ground.