Which space probe discovered Saturn’s moon Pandora in 1980?
Answer
Voyager 1
Answer
Voyager 1
Voyager 1 discovered Saturn’s moon Pandora in 1980.
The discovery came from images returned by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft during its flyby of Saturn. Pandora was not identified in early ground-based observations because it is small and faint. Voyager’s close-range imaging made the satellite visible and allowed astronomers to establish its position near Saturn’s F ring.
Pandora is one of Saturn’s ring-shepherd moons. Its gravitational influence, together with that of Prometheus, helps maintain the narrow F ring’s structure. The moon is irregular and cratered, and its surface has been studied mainly through spacecraft images rather than extensive lander observations.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 both visited the outer planets, but Voyager 1 is specifically credited with discovering Pandora. Cassini later made much closer and more detailed observations of Saturn’s moons and rings, so the discovery spacecraft and the later study mission are easy to confuse.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026