Science Voyager 1 getting close to leaving the solar system - Page 3

**mlyonsd** · 06-19-2012, 09:24 AM

I find it amazing they were launched in 1977 and are still working.

NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft nears interstellar space

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has encountered a new environment more than 11 billion miles from Earth, suggesting that the venerable probe is on the cusp of leaving the solar system.

The Voyager 1 probe has entered a region of space with a markedly higher flow of charged particles from beyond our solar system, researchers said.

Mission scientists suspect this increased flow indicates that the spacecraft — currently 11.1 billion miles (17.8 billion kilometers) from its home planet — may be poised to cross the boundary into interstellar space.

"The laws of physics say that someday Voyager will become the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, but we still do not know exactly when that someday will be," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement.

"The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly," Stone added. "It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's frontier."

Far-flung spacecraft

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, launched in 1977, tasked chiefly with studying Saturn, Jupiter and the gas giants' moons. The two spacecraft made many interesting discoveries about these far-flung bodies, and then they just kept going, checking out Uranus and Neptune on their way toward interstellar space.

They're not quite out of the solar system yet, however. Both are still within a huge bubble called the heliosphere, which is made of solar plasma and solar magnetic fields. This gigantic structure is about three times wider than the orbit of Pluto, researchers have said.

Specifically, the Voyagers are plying the heliosphere's outer shell, a turbulent region called the heliosheath. But Voyager 1's new measurements — of fast-moving galactic cosmic rays hurled our way by star explosions — suggest the probe may be nearing the heliosphere's edge.

"From January 2009 to January 2012, there had been a gradual increase of about 25 percent in the amount of galactic cosmic rays Voyager was encountering," Stone said. "More recently, we have seen very rapid escalation in that part of the energy spectrum. Beginning on May 7, the cosmic ray hits have increased five percent in a week and nine percent in a month."

More measurements needed

While it may be tough to identify the moment when Voyager 1 finally pops free into interstellar space, scientists are keeping an eye on the cosmic ray measurements and a few other possible indicators.

One is the intensity of energetic particles generated inside the heliosphere. Voyager 1 has recorded a gradual decline in these particles as it flies farther and farther away from Earth, but it hasn't seen the dramatic dropoff that scientists expect would accompany an exit from the solar system.

The Voyager team also thinks the magnetic fields surrounding the spacecraft should change when it crosses the solar boundary. Those field lines run roughly east-west within the heliosphere, and researchers predict they'll shift to a more north-south orientation in interstellar space. They're currently looking at Voyager 1 data for any signs of such a transition.
In the meantime, both Voyagers just keep on flying and exploring. Voyager 2 trails its twin a little bit; it's currently 9.1 billion miles (14.7 billion km) from home.

"When the Voyagers launched in 1977, the space age was all of 20 years old," Stone said. "Many of us on the team dreamed of reaching interstellar space, but we really had no way of knowing how long a journey it would be — or if these two vehicles that we invested so much time and energy in would operate long enough to reach it."

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...stellar-space/

Start Croyle · 06-20-2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R8ers

Wonder if it is Nuclear powered or Solar powered... I once heard that decaying uranium in the amount of a couple of tablespoons could power a car for 10k years.

I believe they do use uranium! I'm not an expert though!

ZepSinger · 06-20-2012, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R8ers

Wonder if it is Nuclear powered or Solar powered... I once heard that decaying uranium in the amount of a couple of tablespoons could power a car for 10k years.

from Wikipedia:

Voyager 1 has three large radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Each RTG contains 24 pressed plutonium-238 oxide spheres. The heat from the spheres generated about 157 watts of electric power at the launch, with the remainder being dissipated as waste heat. Hence there was a total of about 470 watts of electric power provided by the three RTGs.
The power output of the RTGs does decline over time, but the RTGs of Voyager 1 will continue to support some of its operations through about 2025.

whoman69 · 06-20-2012, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Start Croyle

I believe they do use uranium! I'm not an expert though!

70,000 years from now when this crash lands on another planet, the natives are going to curse us.

JD10367 · 06-20-2012, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoman69

70,000 years from now when this crash lands on another planet, the natives are going to curse us.

Fish · 06-20-2012, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R8ers

Wonder if it is Nuclear powered or Solar powered... I once heard that decaying uranium in the amount of a couple of tablespoons could power a car for 10k years.

Can't be solar powered. The sun is the size of pinhead from that distance...

Marcellus · 06-20-2012, 07:49 PM

This ****ing thing was launched in 1977, is now 11 BILLION MILES FROM Earth and still communicating yet I still lose cell phone service 1/2 mile from my house in wide open space between 2 towers?

Fish · 06-20-2012, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

This ****ing thing was launched in 1977, is now 11 BILLION MILES FROM Earth and still communicating yet I still lose cell phone service 1/2 mile from my house in wide open space between 2 towers?

You just need to add some U 238 to your phone...

**Gadzooks** · 06-20-2012, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Can't be solar powered. The sun is the size of pinhead from that distance...

The sun looks just as small from your anus as it does from Pluto

I don't believe this is an accurate depiction... Frankly, I suspect it may be "Photo-shopped"

Fish · 06-20-2012, 10:22 PM

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...ok-from-pluto/

Pushead2 · 06-21-2012, 01:31 AM

whoman69 · 06-21-2012, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

This ****ing thing was launched in 1977, is now 11 BILLION MILES FROM Earth and still communicating yet I still lose cell phone service 1/2 mile from my house in wide open space between 2 towers?

I can't even get service downtown on mine.

**Rain Man** · 06-21-2012, 01:54 PM

If I worked on one of those things it would've been very difficult to resist putting a hair in it somewhere, just to get my DNA out there for eternity.

Of course, there's always the risk of then having the aliens clone it and being faced with an invading army of rain man clones in the future, but by then I'm sure I'd be dead and wouldn't have to face it.

**mlyonsd** · 06-21-2012, 02:08 PM

I wonder what the odds of another planet's Voyager type craft from another solar system are of running smack into ours and neither of us is the wiser.

Pasta Little Brioni · 06-22-2012, 05:28 PM

It will return...along with many a mock draft thread.

**Rain Man** · 06-22-2012, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

I wonder what the odds of another planet's Voyager type craft from another solar system are of running smack into ours and neither of us is the wiser.

It probably depends on how big the other Voyager is. If it's smaller than ours, the odds are low. But if it's, like 50 feet long or something, a collision is pretty much inevitable, I think.

06-19-2012, 09:24 AM
mlyonsd Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Spink, SD Casino cash: $1393762	Voyager 1 getting close to leaving the solar system I find it amazing they were launched in 1977 and are still working. NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft nears interstellar space NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has encountered a new environment more than 11 billion miles from Earth, suggesting that the venerable probe is on the cusp of leaving the solar system. The Voyager 1 probe has entered a region of space with a markedly higher flow of charged particles from beyond our solar system, researchers said. Mission scientists suspect this increased flow indicates that the spacecraft — currently 11.1 billion miles (17.8 billion kilometers) from its home planet — may be poised to cross the boundary into interstellar space. "The laws of physics say that someday Voyager will become the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, but we still do not know exactly when that someday will be," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement. "The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly," Stone added. "It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's frontier." Far-flung spacecraft Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, launched in 1977, tasked chiefly with studying Saturn, Jupiter and the gas giants' moons. The two spacecraft made many interesting discoveries about these far-flung bodies, and then they just kept going, checking out Uranus and Neptune on their way toward interstellar space. They're not quite out of the solar system yet, however. Both are still within a huge bubble called the heliosphere, which is made of solar plasma and solar magnetic fields. This gigantic structure is about three times wider than the orbit of Pluto, researchers have said. Specifically, the Voyagers are plying the heliosphere's outer shell, a turbulent region called the heliosheath. But Voyager 1's new measurements — of fast-moving galactic cosmic rays hurled our way by star explosions — suggest the probe may be nearing the heliosphere's edge. "From January 2009 to January 2012, there had been a gradual increase of about 25 percent in the amount of galactic cosmic rays Voyager was encountering," Stone said. "More recently, we have seen very rapid escalation in that part of the energy spectrum. Beginning on May 7, the cosmic ray hits have increased five percent in a week and nine percent in a month." More measurements needed While it may be tough to identify the moment when Voyager 1 finally pops free into interstellar space, scientists are keeping an eye on the cosmic ray measurements and a few other possible indicators. One is the intensity of energetic particles generated inside the heliosphere. Voyager 1 has recorded a gradual decline in these particles as it flies farther and farther away from Earth, but it hasn't seen the dramatic dropoff that scientists expect would accompany an exit from the solar system. The Voyager team also thinks the magnetic fields surrounding the spacecraft should change when it crosses the solar boundary. Those field lines run roughly east-west within the heliosphere, and researchers predict they'll shift to a more north-south orientation in interstellar space. They're currently looking at Voyager 1 data for any signs of such a transition. In the meantime, both Voyagers just keep on flying and exploring. Voyager 2 trails its twin a little bit; it's currently 9.1 billion miles (14.7 billion km) from home. "When the Voyagers launched in 1977, the space age was all of 20 years old," Stone said. "Many of us on the team dreamed of reaching interstellar space, but we really had no way of knowing how long a journey it would be — or if these two vehicles that we invested so much time and energy in would operate long enough to reach it." http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...stellar-space/
Posts: 38,906

06-20-2012, 07:49 PM	#36
Marcellus Diablo Negro Join Date: Sep 2003 Casino cash: $2822662	This **ing thing was launched in 1977, is now 11 BILLION MILES FROM Earth** and still communicating yet I still lose cell phone service 1/2 mile from my house in wide open space between 2 towers?
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06-20-2012, 10:22 PM	#39
Fish Ain't no relax! Join Date: Sep 2005 Casino cash: $1998919	http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...ok-from-pluto/ __________________
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06-21-2012, 01:31 AM	#40
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06-21-2012, 01:54 PM	#42
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3038491 VARSITY	If I worked on one of those things it would've been very difficult to resist putting a hair in it somewhere, just to get my DNA out there for eternity. Of course, there's always the risk of then having the aliens clone it and being faced with an invading army of rain man clones in the future, but by then I'm sure I'd be dead and wouldn't have to face it. __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
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06-21-2012, 02:08 PM	#43
mlyonsd Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Spink, SD Casino cash: $1393762	I wonder what the odds of another planet's Voyager type craft from another solar system are of running smack into ours and neither of us is the wiser.
Posts: 38,906

06-22-2012, 05:28 PM	#44
Pasta Little Brioni Consuming CP souls Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: U.S.A. Casino cash: $3708880	It will return...along with many a mock draft thread. __________________ **Official TFWdemB Trivia Commisioner**
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