Voyager

Voyager, airplane

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.

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Voyager, space probes

Voyager, in space exploration: see space exploration; space probe.

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Voyager

Either of two unmanned U.S. interplanetary probes launched in 1977 to gather information about the Sun's outer planets. Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter in 1979 and reached Saturn in 1980. Voyager 2 traveled more slowly, flying by Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus to reach Neptune in 1989. Data and photographs from both probes revealed new details about these giant planets, their moons, and their rings. In 1998 Voyager 1 became the most distant human-made object in space (overtaking Pioneer 10). Both Voyagers were expected to remain operable through the first or second decade of the 21st century, periodically transmitting data on the heliopause.