A final Voyager investigation did not fit into this pattern of direct versus remote sensing instruments. In fact, it required no special instrument at all. This investigation deals with radio science, and it utilizes the regular communications link between the spacecraft and Earth to derive the masses of Jupiter and its satellites, to probe the atmosphere of Jupiter, and to study properties of the interplanetary medium.
The Voyager Imaging Science Team
Imaging
The eyes of Voyager are in its imaging system. Two television cameras, each with a set of color filters, look at the planets and their satellites and transmit thousands of detailed pictures to Earth. The imaging system is probably the most versatile and therefore the most truly exploratory of the Voyager instruments. No matter what is out there, the imaging system will let us see it and hence, we hope, begin to understand its nature.
| VOYAGER SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Project Scientist: E. C. Stone, Caltech | ||
| Investigation | Principal Investigator or Team Leader | Primary Objectives at Jupiter |
| Imaging science | B. A. Smith, U. Arizona | High resolution reconnaissance over large phase angles; measurement of atmospheric dynamics; determination of geologic structure of satellites; search for rings and new satellites. |
| Infrared radiation (IRIS) | R. A. Hanel, NASA Goddard | Determination of atmospheric composition, thermal structure, and dynamics; satellite surface composition and thermal properties. |
| Ultraviolet spectroscopy | A. L. Broadfoot, Kitt Peak Observatory | Measurement of upper atmospheric composition and structure; auroral processes; distribution of ions and neutral atoms in the Jovian system. |
| Photopolarimetry | C. F. Lillie/C. W. Hord, U. Colorado | Measurement of atmospheric aerosols; satellite surface texture and sodium cloud. |
| Planetary radio astronomy | J. W. Warwick, U. Colorado | Determination of polarization and spectra of radio frequency emissions; Io radio modulation process; plasma densities. |
| Magnetic fields | N. F. Ness, NASA Goddard | Measurement of plasma electron densities; wave-particle interactions; low-frequency wave emissions. |
| Plasma particles | H. S. Bridge, MIT | Measurement of magnetospheric ion and electron distribution; solar wind interaction with Jupiter; ions from satellites. |
| Plasma waves | F. L. Scarf, TRW | Measurement of plasma electron densities; wave-particle interactions; low-frequency wave emissions. |
| Low energy charged particles | S. M. Krimigis, Johns Hopkins U. | Measurement of the distribution, composition, and flow of energetic ions and electrons; satellite-energetic particle interactions. |
| Cosmic ray particles | R. E. Vogt, Caltech | Measurement of the distribution, composition, and flow of high energy trapped nuclei; energetic electron spectra. |
| Radio science | V. R. Eshleman, Stanford U. | Measurement of atmospheric and ionospheric structure, constituents, and dynamics; satellite masses. |
Unlike other Voyager instruments, the imaging system is not the result of a competition among proposals submitted by groups of scientists. NASA assigned the development of the cameras directly to JPL, to be integrated from the beginning with the design of the Voyager spacecraft and its subsystems. The members of the Voyager Imaging Science Team were selected, as individuals, on the basis of the scientific studies they proposed to carry out. Initially, ten members of the Imaging Science Team were selected, but by the time of the Jupiter encounters, the team had been expanded to 22 scientists.
Bradford A. Smith, imaging science Team Leader
The Team Leader is Bradford A. Smith, a professor in the Department of Planetary Science at the University of Arizona. Smith was involved in imaging science on several previous missions, including Mariners 6 and 7 and Viking. He was also active in ground-based photography of Jupiter at both New Mexico State University and University of Arizona, and he is a member of the team developing a planetary camera for the Space Telescope, scheduled for operation in Earth orbit in the mid-1980s.