The Voyager proof test model in the space simulator chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on December 3, 1976. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

When NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in the summer of 1977, its engineers were sending the spacecraft on specific missions. Originally, the space agency tasked the Voyagers with conducting close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn. They would compile data on magnetic fields, the Sun’s influence, Saturn’s rings, a few large moons, and send back lot