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Expedition 31 Soyuz Launch. NASA public domain image colelction.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Delta II rocket with its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload breaks forth from the smoke and steam into the blue sky to begin its journey to Mars. Liftoff occurred on time at 1:58 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MER-A, known as "Spirit," is the first of two rovers being launched to Mars. When the two rovers arrive at the red planet in 2004, they will bounce to airbag-cushioned landings at sites offering a balance of favorable conditions for safe landings and interesting science. The rovers see sharper images, can explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that has ever landed on Mars. The designated site for the MER-A mission is Gusev Crater, which appears to have been a crater lake. The second rover, MER-B, is scheduled to launch June 25

The NASA Lunar Prospector is successfully launched into space by a Lockheed Martin Athena II commercial launch vehicle. Liftoff occurred at 9:28 P.M. EST from Spaceport Florida Authority launch complex 46, the first commercial launch from this site

LIFTOFF - GEMINI-TITAN (GT)-9A - ATLAS/AGENA - CAPE

A United Kingdom Polaris missile lifts off from a land pad at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. This is the fourth in a series of Polaris launches by the United Kingdom

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Explorer I, the first American satellite, is scheduled to be launched from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 29, 1958 ksc-68p-1

NASA Launch Vehicles, Voyager Project

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Summary

The Voyager 1 aboard the Titan III/Centaur lifted off on September 5, 1977, joining its sister spacecraft, the Voyager 2, on a mission to the outer planets.

Voyagers

In 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 started their one-way journey to the end of the solar system and beyond, now traveling a million miles a day. Jimmy Carter was president when NASA launched two probes from Cape Canaveral. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were initially meant to explore Jupiter, Saturn, and their moons. They did that. But then they kept going at a rate of 35,000 miles per hour. Each craft bears an object that is a record, both dubbed the Golden Records. They were the product of Carl Sagan and his team who produced a record that would, if discovered by aliens, represent humanity and "communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials."