Voyager

Voyager the first airplane to circumnavigate the earth nonstop on a single load of fuel. Designed by Burt Rutan and flown by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager took off from California on Dec. 14, 1986, and, after a 25,012 mi (40,269 km) flight, landed in the same place nine days later. The plane weighed only 1,858 lb (845 kg) without fuel but needed a wingspan of 110 ft (33 m) to lift its two pilots and 1,200 gal (4,560 liters) of fuel off the ground. Only a few gallons remained at the completion of the journey. In 2005, Steve Fossett piloted the GlobalFlyer, a jet plane also designed by Burt Rutan, in a solo nonstop flight around the world.

Voyager either of two American space probes launched in 1977 to investigate the outer planets. Voyager 1 encountered Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 reached Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and finally Neptune (1989).

Voyager Two NASA spacecraft that were launched in 1977 (Voyager 1 on 5 September and Voyager 2 on 20 August) on a mission to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and out of the solar system. Voyager 1 passed Jupiter in March 1979 and Saturn in November 1980, its camera being used for the last time on 13 February 1990, to take pictures of the entire solar system, except for Mars, Mercury, and Pluto; Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in July 1979 and Saturn in August 1981. They completed their explorations in 1989.