Thirty Years into its Journey - Voyager 2 Crosses the Termination Shock
Voyager 2 reached a new landmark when it crossed and then left behind the termination shock at the edge of the solar system. This makes Voyager 2 only the second spacecraft known to have passed through this turbulent region, following its twin, Voyager 1. Voyager 2 has passed beyond the heliosphere and into the heliosheath. The next stop is the heliopause, marking the outer boundary of the Sun's influence and the true beginning of interstellar space. More than 30 years after its launch Voyager 2 is still a source of invaluable scientific data.
Comments:
<img class='' src='http://new.astromart.com/astromart/javascripts/sceditor/emoticons/smile.png' alt='smile' title='smile'/> Thanks for the article, and thanks to the Planetary Society and to those who made this great expedition possible. I am happy I, and many others, were taxpayers and contributors when this voyage took place.
As much as a human adventure to Mars is appealing for all of the obvious reasons, it is science like this that has me believing that we should be doing even more with space probes. The technologies available to us today are amazing and hold great promise to giving us the mobile eyes and other senses required to do amazing science. Vger 1 and 2, the Mars Rovers, Cassini and Hubble are excellent examples of how many years of useful science we can get out of space technologies... they have given us far more bang for the buck and have provided us with a continuous stream of data for decades. Who would have thought that we would be reading a story about scientific discovery made possible by Vger 1 and 2 30 years after their launch? Simply Amazing!!
Amazing that we are still in contact. Bravo for those Pu-239 isotope sources and the thermocouples they power. I didn't know that we were still in contact with Voyager 1. Someone should correct the Wikipedia entry, where I recently read that we lost contact several years ago. Thanks for the report.
we lost contact with the pioneers a few years ago, not the voyagers.
Talk about mind blowing. I never knew the termination shock existed. There is so much to learn, and I look forward to learning as much as I can. Thank you for posting this! <img class='' src='http://new.astromart.com/astromart/javascripts/sceditor/emoticons/smile.png' alt='smile' title='smile'/>
"This makes Voyager 2 only the second spacecraft known to have passed through this turbulent region....." <br><br>What about Pioneer 1 and 2. <br><br>Ken
<br>Ken:<br><br>There is a simple answer to this.<br><br>Even though the Pioneers were launched earlier, the Voyagers have gone through the Terminal Shock boundary first.<br><br>If you look at the diagram I included in the posting, Pioneer 10 is heading in the opposite direction where the boundary is further out.<br><br>Pioneer 11 is heading in roughly the same direction as the two Voyagers, but is not travelling as fast. So both of the Voyagers have passed Pioneer 11.<br><br>Hope this helps.<br><br>Guy Pirro<br><br>
Guy, Thanks for the article it was very informative but stirred a question maybe someone can answer. I remember a few years back the Planetary Society was toying with the idea of a solar sail. Do we know if the solar wind did in fact accelerate the Voyager space craft? It appears that Voyager 2 was traveling at approximately 1 million miles/day, the solar wind 1 million miles/hr. <br><br>Any thoughts? Surely it was detectable after 30 years boost.<br><br>Thanks Dave
Dave:<br><br>Interesting thought.<br><br>In fact many physicists have tried to explain the Pioneer Anomaly using conventional physics, but so far nobody seems to have succeeded. Radiation pressure from the Sun and the solar wind, for example, point the wrong way when compared to the observed effect of the Pioneer Anomaly.<br><br>Here's an short analysis of possible causes:<br><br>http://www.space-time.info/pioneer/<br><br><br>Thanks,<br><br>Guy Pirro<br><br><br><br><br><blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="italic"><i>David Hakenewerth said:</i><br><br>Guy, Thanks for the article it was very informative but stirred a question maybe someone can answer. I remember a few years back the Planetary Society was toying with the idea of a solar sail. Do we know if the solar wind did in fact accelerate the Voyager space craft? It appears that Voyager 2 was traveling at approximately 1 million miles/day, the solar wind 1 million miles/hr. <br><br>Any thoughts? Surely it was detectable after 30 years boost.<br><br>Thanks Dave</div></blockquote>
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