Voyager 1, 3 March 1979 [Description from photo index.]. This image, taken by Voyager 1 on March 1, 1979, shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a tremendous atmospheric storm. It rotates counterclockwise, once every six days, and is large enough to hold several Earths. Jupiter's deep, layered atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium. Voyager 1 and 2 were launched in March and July of 1977. The Grand Tour was designed to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The spacecraft trajectories took advantage of an alignment of the planets which occurs once every 175 years, utilizing gravity assist to reduce the need for large onboard propulsion systems. This photo of Jupiter was taken by Voyager 1 on March 1, 1979. The spacecraft was 3 million miles (5 million kilometers) from Jupiter at the time. The photo shows Jupiter's Gread Red Spot (upper right) and the turbulent region immediately to the west. At the middle right of the frame is one of several white ovals seen on Jupiter from Earth. The structure in every feature here is far better than has ever been seen from any telescopic observations. The Red Spot and the white oval both reveal intricate and involved structure. The smallest tails that can be seen in this photo are about 55 miles (95 kilometers) across. JPL manages and controls the Voyager project for NASA's Office of Space Science. [Caption from released photo].
