Posted on 12/10/2018 10:27:35 AM PST by ETL
Voyager 2 has entered interstellar space. The spacecraft slipped out of the huge bubble of particles that encircles the solar system on November 5, becoming the second ever human-made craft to cross the heliosphere, or the boundary between the sun and the stars.
Coming in second place is no mean achievement. Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to exit the solar system in 2012. But that craft’s plasma instrument stopped working in 1980, leaving scientists without a direct view of the solar wind, hot charged particles constantly streaming from the sun (SN Online: 9/12/13). Voyager 2’s plasma sensors are still working, providing unprecedented views of the space between stars.
“We’ve been waiting with bated breath for the last couple of months for us to be able to see this,” NASA solar physicist Nicola Fox said at a Dec. 10 news conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Washington, D.C.
NASA launched the twin Voyager spacecraft in 1977 on a grand tour of the solar system’s planets (SN: 8/19/17, p. 26). After that initial tour was over, both spacecraft continued travelling through the bubble of plasma that originates at the sun.
“When Voyager was launched, we didn’t know how large the bubble was, how long it would take to get [to its edge] and whether the spacecraft could last long enough to get there,” said Voyager project scientist Edward Stone of Caltech.
For most of Voyager 2’s journey, the spacecraft’s Plasma Science Experiment measured the speed, density, temperature, pressure and other properties of the solar wind. But on November 5, the experiment saw a sharp drop in the speed and the number of solar wind particles that hit the detector each second. At the same time, another detector started picking up more high-energy particles called cosmic rays that originate elsewhere in the galaxy.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Veejure. “Must sterilize.”
Sometimes these guys make the coolest stuff.
V’Ger ping.
Why would Voyager 2 launch before Voyager 1?
Absolutely amazing; and all in my lifetime. Voyager gave us our first good look at the distant planets and now the Universe beyond the Heliosphere. I wonder if those who designed and built her dared dream it would last this long?
Great stuff. Thanks for the post.
It’s racking up some Frequent Flyer miles!..............
Worst Star Trek movie ever. I owned it on Beta. Cost my $105 new.
The TV episode was one of the best, though.
Either that or just fans of Lt. Saavik
Excellent post! Thanks.
Interesting graphic. In 41 years, Voyager 2 has only traveled the distance light would travel in about 16.5 hours. The premise of “Star Trek The Motion Picture” (set in 2271) was that Voyager (1) had been traveling into deep space for about three hundred years and was making its return trip. At that rate of travel (appr. 0.4 light hours x year), Voyager would have only traveled about 120 light hours in 300 years, or the distance light can travel in five days. Of course this assumes a constant rate of travel without any forces affecting acceleration/deceleration.
They did a hell of a job building her.
So, you're Neil DeGrasse Tyson now? /jk
I came out of the theater and told my buddy...
“I think I’ve got a thing for women with pointy ears”
“Worst Star Trek movie ever.”
Oh, I don’t know - it’s got some pretty stiff competition from Star Trek 5. That was so bad I never rented it on video after seeing it in the theater.
Think the names had to do with their routes out of solar
System
2 had a longer path than 1and would eventually fall behind
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