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To: SunkenCiv

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have not reached the Oort Cloud. Although Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in 2012 by crossing the heliopause, it remains far short of the Oort Cloud’s inner edge, which begins approximately 2,000 to 5,000 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.

Current estimates indicate it will take roughly 300 years for Voyager 1 to reach the inner boundary of the Oort Cloud and about 30,000 years to traverse the entire region. By the time the probes arrive, their power sources will have long depleted, meaning they will drift through the cloud silently without transmitting data.


5 posted on 09/18/2026 10:09:08 AM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Red Badger
“by the time the probes arrive, their power sources will have long depleted, meaning they will drift through the cloud silently without transmitting data.”

My dad led the team at GE that built the RTG power plants that power the two Voyager spacecraft: the Multihundred-watt radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MHW RTG) is a type of US radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) developed for the Voyager spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyager generators continue to function nearly 50 years into the mission.

Even worse than the Voyagers traveling without power, did you know that the sun will burn out before the California HSR project is finished and they will have to complete it in the dark?

8 posted on 09/18/2026 10:21:40 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Red Badger

Every one who dreams about aliens should read your post 10 times. It is the exact reason why no one will visit earth or earth spacecrafts will not reach other planets outside our solar system.

There is that vast dark space between consecutive solar systems. The solar panels have no power source after exiting our solar system for hundreds of thousand year. They will just drift into the vast dark space and get lost in space.


9 posted on 09/18/2026 10:27:30 AM PDT by Bobbyvotes (Work is best form of worship to God.)
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To: Red Badger; SunkenCiv

In other threads on FR, I have expressed skepticism on whether the Oort Cloud exists. As far as I know, we have never seen or photographed anything that is in an Oort Cloud. A comet nucleus that doesn’t yet have a lit-up tail would be nice. Now after reading this message, I’m wondering if we will ever have evidence for the Oort cloud.


23 posted on 09/18/2026 6:33:00 PM PDT by Berosus (I wish I had as much faith in God as liberals have in government.)
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