Voyager 1 Sends Messages from the Edge

dalmozian writes "NASA's Latest News about the Voyager 1 is being run on Sci-Tech. The Voyager has passed into the border region at the edge of the solar system and now is sending back information about this never-before-explored area, say scientists at the University of Maryland. From the article: 'Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft Voyager 2 are now part of a NASA Interstellar Mission to explore the outermost edge of the sun's domain and beyond. Both Voyagers are capable of returning scientific data from a full range of instruments, with adequate electrical power and attitude control propellant to keep operating until 2020.'" The proof of crossing the termination shock was covered earlier this year but now we can see the actual data.

Comments

Why are they cancelling funding...?

[barawn]

I actually got to see this data presented at a cosmic ray conference this summer. There are a few things you have to realize:

• This is the only astronomical shock we are able to study closely
  
• There are a lot of things we don't understand about shocks
  
• Voyager 2 is still working, with better instruments, and will reach the termination shock early
  
• We're seeing things we never, never expected
  

For instance, on the last bit, we expected to see cosmic rays from the termination shock, because shocks accelerate particles. We see them. But they don't appear to be coming from the shock. They're coming from somewhere else that we don't know. We see another set of cosmic rays (with a different spectrum) that we don't understand at all - we just call them "anomalous cosmic rays."

Also, inside the heliosphere, Voyager 1 kept crossing magnetic domains (so a needle on a compass would swing back and forth) periodically. It was expected after the shock that those domain switches would keep happening, much much faster. That didn't happen. In fact, the domain switches stopped. We don't understand why. That doesn't make a lot of sense.

This is our only probe and our only example of a large astronomical shock. It's full of information about how the Universe produces such violent outbursts like supernovae, or gamma ray bursts. We need to keep studying this.

Re:Why are they cancelling funding...?

[barawn]

One of the other posts claimed that the termination shock is the only astrophysical shock we can study so we need to keep funding Voyager. It isn't entirely true that the termination shock between our heliosphere and the interstellar wind is the ONLY astrophysical shock we can study. A shock in a space plasma is a shock no matter where it is, and they all are pretty similar.

No. Absolutely not. The termination shock is huge. It's something like ~150-200 AU across the heliosphere. We have no idea what the structure of a shock like that is. I said it's the only astrophysical shock we can study, and I stand by that - it's the only astrophysical scale shock we can study. CMEs are far too small.

The fact that we're seeing things we completely didn't expect should tell you that. We do not understand the acceleration of particles at a shock. Coronal mass ejections happen in a few seconds. The termination shock has existed for millions of years. These are very different phenomena.

Cancelling the funding for Voyager right now is simply idiotic. We just found out that a lot of assumptions we had about the termination shock are wrong, and there's another probe heading there right now!, with more instruments! In terms of science per dollar, there is no better bet right now than funding Voyager.

i 0\/\/n0rZ t3h \/()j463r! woooot!

[Dogtanian]

Let's /. the voyager!

I thought about something along those lines a while back. More specifically, with most space probes, what's stopping a malevolant third party from sending their own control transmissions to a probe, and making it do their bidding?

My guess is that they might include some precautions nowadays, but what of probes from a few years back?

FOS

[oliverthered]

Couldn't they just open source Voyager and get a number of nations to fork the bill?

Big stuff in the Kuiper belt

[spaceyhackerlady]

Many scientists now believe that Pluto should be more properly classified as the largest Kuiper Belt Object ever found.

Even that is debatable, if the figures on 2003 UB313 are anywhere near correct. If it's as shiny as white snow, it's bigger than Pluto. If it's darker, it's bigger still.

...laura

Re:Top 10 List

[deesine]

For being a site for nerds, I'm surprised that only you and I have heard of Dr. Schoch's findings and his subsequent run-ins with prominent Egyptologists.

For those unfamiliar with this man and his claims, go here.

Indeed, there is more mystery to the great pyramids than "how did they put such large stones in place?". Check it out.

Okay, but why?

[benjamindees]

The real mystery is more of an economic-political one. Why did such a large number of people essentially devote their lives to building monuments? How was it paid for? Did the pyramids possibly have some redeeming purpose other than as religious symbols? Why are pyramids on my money? How could leaders who have nothing better to spend money on than worthless make-work projects stay in power for so long?