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Started By
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Meanwhile, the Voyager probes are still flying out into space
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:22 pm
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:22 pm
quote:
This week, NASA scientists confirmed something that had already been widely suspected: the Voyager 1 probe, nearly 12 billion miles away from Earth, is in interstellar space.
quote:
After completing this primary mission, both spacecraft were still functional, so NASA assigned them a second objective: exploring the far reaches of our solar system and beyond.
They've been doing that ever since, dutifully sending back readings on the composition of the outer parts of the heliosphere. Voyager 2 is still active as well — it'll also enter interstellar space in a few years, after taking a slightly longer path than Voyager 1. Together, they're the two farthest human-made objects from Earth in existence.
quote:
The Oort Cloud is probably extremely far away. Keep in mind that the graphic above is logarithmic. We're one astronomical unit (AU) away from the sun — and the main band of the Oort Cloud is believed to be between 20,000 and 50,000 times farther away.
As a result, it'll be around 300 years before Voyager 1 even enters the Oort Cloud, and another 30,000 before it fully passes through it. Of course, we won't have any way of knowing when it happens: long before then, around 2035, the craft's small plutonium-powered generators will run out of fuel, preventing it from sending back radio signals to alert us of its whereabouts.
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Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:25 pm to weagle99
Vger wants to know the prime objective
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:26 pm to weagle99
Weird graphic only showing 8 planets...
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:29 pm to weagle99
Damn, space...You big.
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:34 pm to Big_Al_316
Cool, thanks! 
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:35 pm to weagle99
This is ridiculously fascinating.
It makes your daily concerns seem so trivial in comparison.
It makes your daily concerns seem so trivial in comparison.
This post was edited on 7/10/14 at 10:36 pm
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:38 pm to LSU=Champions
Hey!
Heads down!
Back to work!
Heads down!
Back to work!
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:41 pm to weagle99
How long does it take to get a transmission to Earth and back from that distance?
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:41 pm to weagle99
The computing power of the Voyager craft is less than that found in an average smartphone today. 
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:43 pm to C
quote:
Weird graphic only showing 8 planets...
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:43 pm to weagle99
I was just about to say, I'm curious about the technology on that thing. Obviously it's gotta be legit if it's sending info to earth, you know, some light years away. But it was sent out in the late 70s. Bet it's got a Betamax on it.
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:45 pm to weagle99
Question: Can the Voyager imaging cameras be turned back on?
Answer: It is possible for the cameras to be turned on, but it is not a priority for Voyager's Interstellar Mission. After Voyager 1 took its last image (the "Solar System Family Portrait" in 1990), the cameras were turned off to save power and memory for the instruments expected to detect the new charged particle environment of interstellar space. Mission managers removed the software from both spacecraft that controls the camera. The computers on the ground that understand the software and analyze the images do not exist anymore. The cameras and their heaters have also been exposed for years to the very cold conditions at the deep reaches of our solar system. Even if mission managers recreated the computers on the ground, reloaded the software onto the spacecraft and were able to turn the cameras back on, it is not clear that they would work.
In addition, it is very dark where the Voyagers are now. While you could still see some brighter stars and some of the planets with the cameras, you can actually see these stars and planets better with amateur telescopes on Earth.
Answer: It is possible for the cameras to be turned on, but it is not a priority for Voyager's Interstellar Mission. After Voyager 1 took its last image (the "Solar System Family Portrait" in 1990), the cameras were turned off to save power and memory for the instruments expected to detect the new charged particle environment of interstellar space. Mission managers removed the software from both spacecraft that controls the camera. The computers on the ground that understand the software and analyze the images do not exist anymore. The cameras and their heaters have also been exposed for years to the very cold conditions at the deep reaches of our solar system. Even if mission managers recreated the computers on the ground, reloaded the software onto the spacecraft and were able to turn the cameras back on, it is not clear that they would work.
In addition, it is very dark where the Voyagers are now. While you could still see some brighter stars and some of the planets with the cameras, you can actually see these stars and planets better with amateur telescopes on Earth.
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:45 pm to C
quote:
Weird graphic only showing 8 planets...
Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet a few years ago.
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:46 pm to weagle99
My head hurts
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:46 pm to weagle99
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:47 pm to Sentrius
quote:
How long does it take to get a transmission to Earth and back from that distance?
I think about 18 hours each way.
Posted on 7/10/14 at 10:54 pm to weagle99
Can somebody break down the difference between the heliosphere and the oort cloud?
Posted on 7/10/14 at 11:05 pm to Ye_Olde_Tiger
So, heliosphere is the extent of solar wind and oort cloud is extent of gravitational effect...yes?
Posted on 7/10/14 at 11:09 pm to Big_Al_316
quote:
Vger wants to know the prime objective
Posted on 7/10/14 at 11:09 pm to weagle99
In before BR > Space
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