Voyager's Greatest Hits: the epic trek to Interstellar Space by Alexandra Siy. 40 p. Charlesbridge, June, 2017. 9781580897280.
It's time for Fact Friday! 40 years ago this summer, NASA began what might be considered the ultimate road trip with the launches of the Voyager rockets. The two were launched separately with Voyager 2 bringing up the rear, enabling scientists to make adjustments based on the data Voyager 1 sent back. Science writer, Alexandra Siy writes about the Voyager's journey from inception (by a grad student working part time in the Jet Propulsion Lab) through its planning (lots and lots of math) and design, its launch and some of the many discoveries the data they send back have helped NASA to make about space. Even though the cameras and computers in our smart phones are more powerful and efficient than those on the Voyager rockets, they soldiered on through space and are now in Interstellar space. On board each Voyager is a Golden Record, of music and language and a sampling of what life on Earth was like up to 1977 - just in case there is intelligent life out there. It makes for a great non-fiction/ fiction pairing with Monday's entry, See You in the Cosmos, as the hero, Alex wishes to launch his own rocket containing a Golden iPod to update the intelligent beings out there.
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