Two identical spacecraft were developed for the 1977 launch opportunity.
These marvelous machines were cleverly designed to survive the rigors of
long voyages in outer space and to deliver high-quality scientific
information required for detailed understanding of planetary systems.
The spacecraft are both complex—automatically responding to their
Earth-bound monitors that remotely control them via radio commands—and
highly autonomous—capable of caring for themselves in many areas through
a system of sensors, computers, and spare equipment. Each spacecraft
functions on about 400 watts of electrical power which is provided by
nuclear generators. Broadcasts of data across a billion miles to Earth
are accomplished with a spacecraft transmitter power of only about 25
watts, the amount of energy required by a small household light bulb.
Voyager’s scientific payload was carefully chosen to observe Saturn over
a wide range of wave-lengths and to measure magnetic fields, charged
particles, and plasma waves.