Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Jupiter on 5 March 1979, photographing the Great Red Spot, the planet's swirling bands and its faint ring. Its images of the moon Io, taken days later, showed active volcanoes erupting plumes hundreds of kilometres high, the first volcanic activity seen on another world. Voyager 2 followed in July and revealed signs of a global ocean beneath the icy crust of Europa. The flybys turned the Galilean moons from points of light into worlds.
Before and after
- 13 February 1979Birth of Anders Behring Breivik
- from 17 February 1979 to 16 March 1979Sino-Vietnamese War
- 4 March 1979Discovery of Metis
- 5 March 1979Discovery of Thebe
- 5 March 1979Voyager 1 reveals Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io
- 28 March 1979Three Mile Island accident
- 4 April 1979Birth of Heath Ledger
- 5 April 1979Establishment of Kakadu National Park
- 17 May 1979Establishment of Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park
More in Exploration & discovery
- 1 October 1958NASA is founded
- 18 March 1965Alexei Leonov makes the first spacewalk
- January 2004Spirit and Opportunity land on Mars
- 6 August 2012Curiosity lands in Gale crater
- 12 November 2014Rosetta's Philae lander touches down on a comet
- 3 January 2019Chang'e 4 lands on the far side of the Moon
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.