Dr. Garry Hunt, a British astrophysicist and member of the original Voyager imaging team, has spoken about his role in the mission as the probe approaches a light day's distance from Earth. He was the UK's sole representative on the team, which was selected from nearly a thousand applicants.
In an episode of The Register's Kettle podcast, Hunt explained that the mission took advantage of a rare alignment of the outer planets that occurs every 176 years. NASA funded two spacecraft, launched in 1977, to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Hunt said he learned of his selection in December 1972, with the first mission meetings held in February 1973 and a ten-day launch window in summer 1977. He described the imaging team as a group of 'prima donnas' including Carl Sagan and Vern Suomi, tasked with designing the cameras and choosing trajectories.
Asked why the probes have lasted so long, Hunt praised the engineers at JPL, saying they had overcome a few hitches. He noted that reliability was key because the spacecraft were built to go into unknown territories.