Kamloops Astronomical Society - KAS
  • Main
  • Photo Gallery
  • Observing
  • Stake Lake Star Park
  • Links
  • Contact Us

Signs point to interstellar space for Voyager 1 probe

9/26/2012

0 Comments

 
From Spaceflight Now:

More than 35 years after launching from Earth and now at the frontier of the solar system, NASA's Voyager 1 probe may be tasting interstellar space for the first time, according to scientists analyzing fresh data from the distant explorer.

Launched in September 1977 to fly past Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 1 is now cruising 11.3 billion miles away and opening its distance by 300 million miles each year. It takes 17 hours for a radio signal to travel between Earth and Voyager 1. Its twin explorer - Voyager 2 - is lagging slightly behind at a distance of 9.2 billion miles from Earth. The nuclear-powered probe's computers have about 68 kilobytes of memory. An 8-gigabyte iPod Nano holds more than 100,000 times as much data. But particle-sniffing sensors aboard Voyager 1 are returning intriguing measurements showing the spacecraft is on the precipice of leaving the solar system. Researchers may be seeing the first signs that Voyager 1 is nearing - or may have already crossed - the heliopause, an enigmatic boundary between the sun's sphere of influence and the void beyond.

Read the full article here.

Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Older Posts

    November 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011


    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.