Slashdot Mirror
Voyager 1 Passes 100 AU from the Sun
An anonymous reader writes "Yesterday, Voyager 1 passed 100 astronomical units from the sun as it continues operating after nearly 30 years in space. That is about 15 billion kilometers or 9.3 billion miles as it travels about 1 million miles per day. Scientists still hope it will find the edge of the solar system and get into interstellar space."
How many more AUs to scientists think Voyager still has to travel before it reaches the edge, or do we not have a good estimation of that distance?
If I'm a space science noob does that make me a "Universal Noob"?
If you are like me and love reading about Voyager 1 stuff, here's a great blog post with tons of linked info on the Golden Record, the philosophy behind the probe, who worked on it, that sort of thing.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Kudos JPL.
She's built like a steak house, but she handles like a bistro....
This is a good place to mention Luis Cupido's web site. He's actually managed to pick up the Voyager 1 signal on a 5.6-meter dish, using a lot of DSP-fu and maybe -- you be the judge -- a bit of wishful thinking.
A fascinating, if somewhat slow-loading, page.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
Scientists still hope it will find the edge of the solar system and get into interstellar space."
The alternative is for the Sun to pull it back.
To sail on a dream through eternal nighttime of space To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm To work in the service of life and the living In search of the answers to questions unknown To be part of the movement and part of the growing Part of beginning to understand
Aye, Voyager, the places you've been to The things that you've shown us The stories you tell Aye, Voyager, I sing to your spirit The men who have served you So long and so well
a tip of the prop to the late John Denver
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The point is, the two Voyagers are the last of the first generation of robotic interstellar spacecraft. Interstellar 2.0 will use ion drive, nuclear electric, solar sails, magnetic sails, and other exotic propulsion technologies. Interstellar 3.0 will get useful paylods to other planetary systems, within the lifetime of some slashdot readers. Cost? Less than the Shuttle/Space Station welfare system. Payoff? Priceless! Starflight without Warp Drive Hydrogen Ice Spacecraft for Robotic Interstellar Flight
not sure how much data they are getting from it now, but they are tracking it. there is an observed anomaly in its current trajectory that is not well understood. Unfortunately I can't find a good link on it, but the issue is this:
the craft's current rate of acceleration as it heads away from the sun is not consistent with current gravitional laws.
From what I've read, it is considered likely that the issue is just some exotic side effect of the conventional physics inside the space craft itself (like waste heat shedding off the craft's antenna exerting a small force on the craft and altering its trajectory slightly). It's possible though that it is an indication of a hole in our existing understanding of gravity.
Not sure what else the craft might be doing. Probably not much. But that little anomaly is pretty interesting.
In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. -T.S. Eliot
I wonder whether there are plans for launching a new, more powerful, more sophisticated aircraft with the same purpose. After 30 years of progress we should be able to do much better, shouldn't we ? (To be honest I suspect that modern technology is less reliable than 30 years ago - the complexity is killer - but still we have to try)
Couldn't there be a very low power engine of some kind, just enough to provide a minimal thrust for, lets say, a decade. You don't need a lot of thrust in vacuum. Even small but constant acceleration should be sufficient to eventually achieve very high speed and perhaps even outrun the older spacecraft.
Is Voyager 1 providing any useful information any more, besides the becon signal and trajectory information? Wasn't there a Voyager 2?
I'm curious what's failed on the probe so far. After 30 years, something has to have died.
This is probably a dumb question. But here goes.
How is it that Voyager (and other probes) is able to avoid crashing into obstacles (eg: asteroids, commets, planets etc)?
Do they have some kind of navigation system that can sense an object coming towards it and alter its course?
One would think that in 30 years and so many billion miles, it must be *VERY* lucky to have avoided any obstacles in its path?
Can anyone explain?
According to this article Voyager 1 already passed the heliopause at 85 AU. So which edge are we looking for now?
Space and Computers.
If, as seems possible, this amateur radio astronomer can detect signals from Voyager 1, it may also be possible for amateur radio astronomers to detect the presence of very faint signals coming from the furthest objects in the solar system, as the iron within them cuts through the charged particle stream of the interstellar winds, which is all you need to generate a radio wave.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Our current understanding of gravity fits the definition of a scientific law, thus there is no need to call it anything else. There is also no problem with these laws occasionaly being changed or thrown out. There is nothing in the definition of a scientific law that says it cannot be thrown out due to new data or understanding. The definition mearly requires that there there have never been repeatable contradictions.
If forums teach us anything, it is that logic and critical thinking should be required courses in the public schools.
100 AU over 30 years. Seems to me I've gone almost as far in the same period of time.
Quick math :
-The earth travels (about) 3.14 AU / year
- 3.14 * 30 = 94.2 AU over 30 years
(note: I make math errors all the time. No doubt someone will correct this one if its wrong)
Why isn't voyager faster than the earth given it started off going as fast as the earth, and quickly accelerated from that point during takeoff?
Only in the short term.. given a long enough timeframe, its odds of running into something eventually are 100%.
> Only in the short term.. given a long enough timeframe, its odds of running into something eventually are 100%.
;^)
Depends on the nature of the universe.
If you believe in that the universe is uniformly expanding, then every point is at the center of the expansion. Since the velocity of voyager isn't that high (relativistically speaking), there is at least some chance that it could eventually get to a state where nothing even going at speed of light can run into it, ever.
Your page says that the IP part of TCP/IP emerged in 1978 and was finalized around
1980, whereas Voyager 1 was launched in 1977. So at least technically the OP is right.
I was wondering if the Voyager is protected from take overs. Can anyone control it herself instead of Nasa, and then do stupid things with it?
hemi