VOYAGER TO THE PLANETS

Spectacular color photos of planets and moons, many of the latter newly discovered from the Voyager spacecraft, make this a visual delight. While the accompanying text is sometimes technical, the descriptions of never-seen worlds are compelling. NASA originally designed these spacecraft for a ``Grand Tour'' of the solar system, taking advantage of a favorable planetary alignment that occurs only once in 175 years to make ``planet- hopping'' feasible. Both launched in 1977, Voyager 1 sent back data on Jupiter and Saturn while Voyager 2, after continuing on to Uranus and Neptune, is currently traveling beyond our solar system and is expected to send back data until 2010. A fine celebration of science and engineering. Brief list of further reading; glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 10+)