Two Voyagers to Saturn - How Voyager 2 has been reprogrammed

Abstract

In the past two years, the Pioneer 11 and the Voyager 1 encounters with Saturn have revealed a remarkable richness and diversity of physical phenomena. As a result of these discoveries and of continued Earth-based studies, major changes have been made in the observations planned for Voyager 2, providing additional opportunities for discovery and understanding of the Saturn system. These opportunities are further enhanced by the significantly different path that Voyager 2 must take through the system, passing 101,000 km above Saturn's cloud tops on 26 August as it continues on to Uranus. Of necessity, the most exciting discovery will be unexpected; but some of the opportunities for new observations are described below for each of the four major areas of investigation-the atmosphere, rings, satellites and magnetosphere.

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