Voyager Probes Nearing Termination Shock

Mr. Eradicator writes "The Voyager probes are continuing their journey away from the Solar System at a pace of 10 AU per year. They won't reach the heliopause until 2017, but they could arrive at a preliminary boundary called the termination shock as early as 2005. The termination shock, nearly 4 billion miles inside the heliopause, is where the solar wind first starts to slow down and reverse due to its first encounters with pressure from interstellar space."

Comments

again?

[Shooter6947]

Dude, we've been hearing about the Voyagers nearing the heliopause and the termination shock for years. They're still not there, though. Why should this time be any different? I think that the space physics people must not understand this as well as they think they do.

Re:again?

[NaturePhotog]

Dude, we've been hearing about the Voyagers nearing the heliopause and the termination shock for years. They're still not there, though. Why should this time be any different?

Because we might learn something when they do?

From the article:

Arriving at the termination shock is more than a rat race. It will allow scientists to estimate the size of the heliosphere, and Stone says this measure will help answer truly fundamental questions.

"If we can determine how large the heliosphere is, we will then have a measure of what's outside in interstellar space. We have indications now, but we don't know accurately what's out there," he said.

Of course, on the flip side, we may not be able to learn much even when they get there:

But Voyager was designed for planetary observations, so there it is unclear how much information can be gathered.

When do they encounter the Borg?

[Rick the Red]

... and get turned into Nomad -- er, I mean V'ger?