In late summer of 1977, the United States launched two unmanned Voyager
spacecraft on an extensive reconnaissance of the outer planets, a
decade-long odyssey that could take them to 3 planets and as many as 18
planetary satellites. The first encounter was with the giant Jovian
planetary system, 645 million kilometers (400 million miles) away.
Passing by Jupiter and its complex satellite system in 1979, the Voyager
spacecraft have collected and returned to Earth an enormous amount of
data and information that may prove to be a keystone in understanding
our solar system.
This publication provides an early look at the Jovian planetary system
and contains a selected sample from the more than 30,000 images
collected during this phase of the Voyager mission. While Voyager
achieved an impressive record of accomplishments, full realization of
the scientific value of this program must await the remaining Voyager
encounters with Saturn and perhaps Uranus, and a detailed analysis of
the data from all the spacecraft investigations.
Robert A. Frosch, _Administrator_
_National Aeronautics and Space Administration_