Voyager 1 Reaches Interstellar Space

letxa2000 writes "CNN is reporting that Voyager 1, now some 8.4 billion miles (90 AUs) from the sun, has left the solar system and entered interstellar space by reaching the heliopause. However, whether the probe has reached the heliopause or is just coming close is the subject of two papers to be published in Thursday's Nature Magazine. The probe supposedly has enough nuclear fuel to last until 2020. Will it be able to find anything interesting outside the solar system in the next 17 years?"

Comments

Re:communicating?

[fuqqer]

I presume we can keep contact until then by just simply building bigger transmitters and receivers if/as needed

Sure dude,
We'll just drive the repair truck out to the site and slap on a newer larger transmitter? It's 8.5 billion fucking miles away, how exactly do you propose making a larger transmitter for the thing and getting it ther? Oh wait...the robotic arm and onboard smelter, and onboard chip fabricator?
I'm not saying they couldn't just push more power to the transmitter though.
Oh and the receiver item....Sure, since we use the Deep Space Antenna grid to field communications for this thing, I'm sure we'll just throw a few more antennas into space. Anybody got a slingshot nearby?
Developers who are not thinking (like this chump) are the reason our jobs are getting outsourced to India. Grrr...end rant.
Now, I'm sure that NASA engineers (who are loads more intelligent than the parent poster at www.codesweep.com) would know to throw enough fuel in the thing to last long enough to get Voyager out of communication range, or fill it up with as much fuel as possible, to give it the longest life possible.

Depends on probes reolution.

[dilvish_the_damned]

For instance, what quality is the porno out there and can we get close enough to make it R rated?
Doubt it.