Voyager Image Archive

Voyager Image Archive

Around 80,000 images from the Voyager Imaging Science Subsystem. This archive of images was distributed to all Voyager Imaging Team members, with this set given to the only UK member - Dr Garry E Hunt. Hunt was based at Imperial College London at the time, with the archive later being passed on to Queen Mary University.

When the two Voyager missions were sent to the outer Solar System, techniques for sharing the images they sent back included making physical copies – like these. The data sent back by Voyager were stored on magnetic tapes at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, before being sent to Garry in the UK. He then used pioneering photographic processing equipment to create this archive of Voyager imagery for his work. As time went on, the images sent back by the two Voyager spacecraft were digitised, reducing the need for hard copies.

Each Voyager image has a Flight Data System (FDS) number that relates to an onboard clock, allowing the images to be identified. Each hard copy image has all the basic information needed to identify it and the circumstances under which it was taken. The histograms on the right indicate the 'dynamic stretch' applied to produce the hard copy - a technique for getting the best possible image, regardless of how bright or dark the object in the image might be. Each print includes information such as the Spacecraft Event Time (SCET), Earth Received Time (ERT), the camera used (e.g., NA - Narrow Angle or WA - Wide Angle), the filter used, and the exposure duration.