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Voyager 1 goes where no spaceship has gone before
Launched in 1977, it has become first man-made object to exit solar system
Voyager's journey
Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets, crossed into interstellar space last year, new research shows. Other scientist believe Voyager is in a region between the heliosphere and interstellar space.
In August 2012, the probe detected dramatic changes in the levels of two types of radiation, one that stays inside the solar system, the other which comes from interstellar space
Plutonium power source will cease to generate power in 10 to 15 years.
Sept 1977
Voyager 1 launches
March 1979
Closest approach to Jupiter
Nov 1980
Files by Saturn
Jan 1990
Begins interstellar mission
Dec 2004
Crosses Termination shock
Aug 2012
Leaves the heliosphere
PASADENA (California) - The spacecraft's technology was laughable by today's standards: It carried an 8-track tape recorder and computers with 240,000 times less memory than a low-end iPhone.
When it left Earth 36 years ago, it was designed as a four-year mission to Saturn, and everything after that was gravy.
But Voyager 1, which is about the size of a subcompact car, has become - unexpectedly - the Little Spacecraft That Could.
On Thursday, scientists declared that it had become the first man-made object to exit the solar system, a breathtaking achievement that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) could only fantasise about back when it was launched back in 1977, the same year that Star Wars was released.
"I don't know if it's in the same league as landing on the moon, but it's right up there - 'Star Trek' stuff, for sure," said University of Iowa physics professor Donald Gurnett, the co-author of a paper published on Thursday in the journal Science about Voyager 1's feat.
"I mean, consider the distance. It's hard even for scientists to comprehend."
Even among planetary scientists, who tend to dream big, the idea that something they built could travel so far for so long and pierce the Sun's reach is an impressive one.
Plenty of telescopes gaze at the far parts of the Milky Way, but Voyager 1 can now touch and feel this unexplored region and send back detailed dispatches.
Given the distance, it takes about 17 hours for Voyager's signals to reach Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory here.
"This is historic stuff, a bit like the first exploration of Earth, and we had to look at the data very, very carefully," said Nasa's top Voyager expert Edward Stone, 77, who had been working on the project since 1972.
Ever the stoic scientist, he does get excited about what comes next. "It's now the start of a whole new mission," he said.
The lonely probe, which is 18.8 billion km from Earth and hurtling away at 61,000 kmh, has long been on the verge of bursting through the heliosphere, a vast, bullet-shaped bubble of particles blown out by the Sun.
Scientists have spent this year debating whether it had done so, interpreting the data Voyager 1 sent back in different ways.
But now it is official that Voyager 1 passed into the cold, dark and unknown vastness of interstellar space, a place full of dust, plasma and other matter from exploded stars.
The article in Science pinpointed a date: Aug 25, 2012.
Voyager 1 stopped sending pictures home in 1990, to conserve energy. In its heyday, it pumped out never-before-seen images of Jupiter and Saturn, but lately there has not been much to see.
Professor Stone, vice-provost for special projects at the California Institute of Technology and former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, expects Voyager 1 to keep sending back data - with a 23-watt transmitter, about the equivalent of a refrigerator light bulb - until roughly 2025.
"There are lots of old missions," he says. "But not many are doing exciting new things."
The cost of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which is not far behind its younger sibling, has been about US$988 million through September, according to Nasa.
Voyager 2 was launched 16 days earlier than Voyager 1, in 1977. It may take another three years before Voyager 2 joins its twin on the other side.
NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST
Launched in 1977, it has become first man-made object to exit solar system
Voyager's journey
Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets, crossed into interstellar space last year, new research shows. Other scientist believe Voyager is in a region between the heliosphere and interstellar space.
In August 2012, the probe detected dramatic changes in the levels of two types of radiation, one that stays inside the solar system, the other which comes from interstellar space
Plutonium power source will cease to generate power in 10 to 15 years.
Sept 1977
Voyager 1 launches
March 1979
Closest approach to Jupiter
Nov 1980
Files by Saturn
Jan 1990
Begins interstellar mission
Dec 2004
Crosses Termination shock
Aug 2012
Leaves the heliosphere
PASADENA (California) - The spacecraft's technology was laughable by today's standards: It carried an 8-track tape recorder and computers with 240,000 times less memory than a low-end iPhone.
When it left Earth 36 years ago, it was designed as a four-year mission to Saturn, and everything after that was gravy.
But Voyager 1, which is about the size of a subcompact car, has become - unexpectedly - the Little Spacecraft That Could.
On Thursday, scientists declared that it had become the first man-made object to exit the solar system, a breathtaking achievement that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) could only fantasise about back when it was launched back in 1977, the same year that Star Wars was released.
"I don't know if it's in the same league as landing on the moon, but it's right up there - 'Star Trek' stuff, for sure," said University of Iowa physics professor Donald Gurnett, the co-author of a paper published on Thursday in the journal Science about Voyager 1's feat.
"I mean, consider the distance. It's hard even for scientists to comprehend."
Even among planetary scientists, who tend to dream big, the idea that something they built could travel so far for so long and pierce the Sun's reach is an impressive one.
Plenty of telescopes gaze at the far parts of the Milky Way, but Voyager 1 can now touch and feel this unexplored region and send back detailed dispatches.
Given the distance, it takes about 17 hours for Voyager's signals to reach Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory here.
"This is historic stuff, a bit like the first exploration of Earth, and we had to look at the data very, very carefully," said Nasa's top Voyager expert Edward Stone, 77, who had been working on the project since 1972.
Ever the stoic scientist, he does get excited about what comes next. "It's now the start of a whole new mission," he said.
The lonely probe, which is 18.8 billion km from Earth and hurtling away at 61,000 kmh, has long been on the verge of bursting through the heliosphere, a vast, bullet-shaped bubble of particles blown out by the Sun.
Scientists have spent this year debating whether it had done so, interpreting the data Voyager 1 sent back in different ways.
But now it is official that Voyager 1 passed into the cold, dark and unknown vastness of interstellar space, a place full of dust, plasma and other matter from exploded stars.
The article in Science pinpointed a date: Aug 25, 2012.
Voyager 1 stopped sending pictures home in 1990, to conserve energy. In its heyday, it pumped out never-before-seen images of Jupiter and Saturn, but lately there has not been much to see.
Professor Stone, vice-provost for special projects at the California Institute of Technology and former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, expects Voyager 1 to keep sending back data - with a 23-watt transmitter, about the equivalent of a refrigerator light bulb - until roughly 2025.
"There are lots of old missions," he says. "But not many are doing exciting new things."
The cost of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which is not far behind its younger sibling, has been about US$988 million through September, according to Nasa.
Voyager 2 was launched 16 days earlier than Voyager 1, in 1977. It may take another three years before Voyager 2 joins its twin on the other side.
NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST
