Voyager 2 At Triton

To commemorate Voyager 2's flyby of Neptune's largest moon, Triton, twenty years ago, NASA has released new pictures of Triton drawn from Voyager data. At first blush, the pictures have a lunar aspect, complete with craters and features formed by vulcanism. On Triton, however, the sculpting tool of geologic activity would be ice, not lava.

Voyager, of course, was an astounding success, perhaps still the high point of unmanned space exploration. Voyagers 1 and 2 conducted the first reconnaissance of the outer Solar System, delighting the public and often befuddling scientists with our first quick glimpses of the wondrous realms of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Both Voyagers are well beyond the planets now, headed into interstellar space. Both are still functioning, too, sending back data about their surroundings-- a testament to the engineers and workers who built them.