This book investigates the technical and scientific achievements of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions during their historic encounters with the Saturnian system. Henry S. F. Cooper Jr., a veteran science journalist, utilizes his access to NASA mission control and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to reconstruct the complex operations behind the planetary flybys. The narrative framework focuses on the intersection of human ingenuity and robotic exploration, detailing how the data returned from Saturn fundamentally altered planetary science.

Experts recognize this work as a significant historical record of the early era of deep-space robotic exploration. Readers frequently note the accessible prose style that effectively translates complex orbital mechanics for a general audience.