Consider the following statements regarding Voyager 2 mission. Voyager...
Statement 1: Voyager 2 is the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.
Statement 2: It is the mission of NASA.
Statement 3: The spacecraft is not powered by solar power, rather it relies on a small nuclear power plant.
Explanation:
Statement 1: Voyager 2 is the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.
This statement is correct. Voyager 2, launched by NASA in 1977, became the second spacecraft to enter interstellar space after Voyager 1. It crossed the heliopause, the boundary of our solar system, in November 2018 and entered interstellar space. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.
Statement 2: It is the mission of NASA.
This statement is correct. Voyager 2 is indeed a mission of NASA. It is part of the Voyager program, which includes two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, both launched by NASA in 1977. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.
Statement 3: The spacecraft is not powered by solar power, rather it relies on a small nuclear power plant.
This statement is incorrect. The Voyager spacecraft, including Voyager 2, are powered by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which convert the heat produced by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238 into electricity. These RTGs provide power to the spacecraft's instruments and systems. Therefore, Voyager 2 is not powered by solar power or a nuclear power plant, but by RTGs. Therefore, statement 3 is incorrect.
Conclusion:
Out of the three statements provided, only two are correct. Therefore, the correct answer is option 'B' - Only two.
Consider the following statements regarding Voyager 2 mission. Voyager...
Statement 1 is incorrect.
- Launched around 46 years ago, Voyager 2 is the second spacecraft to enter interstellar space — the region that lies outside the impact of our Sun’s constant flow of material and magnetic field. The first was Voyager 1.
- Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are identical spacecraft. Each of them is equipped with instruments to carry out 10 different experiments. The instruments include television cameras — to take images of planets and other celestial bodies — infrared and ultraviolet sensors, magnetometers, plasma detectors, and cosmic-ray and charged-particle sensors.
- As their mission involved going far away from the Sun, they aren’t powered by solar power, like other spacecraft are. Instead, Voyager relies on a small nuclear power plant, drawing hundreds of watts from the radioactive decay of a pellet of plutonium.
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