As Voyager 1 heads for interstellar space, its instruments continue to study the solar system; Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists are using the plasma wave experiments aboard Voyager 1 and 2 to look for the heliopause.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory believe that Voyager 1 entered the termination shock in February 2003.^[5] Some other scientists have expressed doubt, discussed in the journal Nature of November 6, 2003.^[6] In a scientific session at the American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans on the morning of May 25, 2005, Dr. Ed Stone presented evidence that Voyager 1 crossed the termination shock in December 2004. "SH22A-01" The issue will not be resolved until other data becomes available, since Voyager 1's solar-wind detector ceased functioning in 1990. However, in May 2005 a NASA press release said that consensus was that Voyager 1 was now in the heliosheath.^[7] Scientists believe the craft will reach the heliopause in 2015.

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Golden record

Main article: Voyager Golden Record

Included in the spacecraft is one of the two Voyager Golden Records. This phonograph record contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. It is intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or far future humans, that may find it.

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Current status

As of May 22, 2008, Voyager 1 was at a distance of 106.4 AU (approximately 15.92 terameters or 0.0017 light years) from the Sun, which makes it the most distant human-made object from Earth.^[8] At this distance, it is more distant from the Sun than any known natural solar system object, including 90377 Sedna. Though Sedna has an orbit that takes it 975 AU away from the Sun at aphelion, as of 2006 it is less than 90 AU away from the Sun and approaching its perihelion at 76 AU. ^[9][10]

At the above distance, light or radio waves, which travel at 299,792.5 kilometers per second (63,241.1 AU/year or 670,616,629 miles per hour), take over 14.6 hours to reach the Earth from Voyager 1. As a basis for comparison, the Moon is about 1.4 light-seconds from Earth, the Sun is approximately 8.5 light-minutes away, Pluto is about 5.5 light-hours, and the nearest star is 4.3 light-years away. As of May 2008, the spacecraft was traveling at a speed of 17.1 kilometers per second relative to the sun (3.6 AU per year or 38,400 miles per hour), 10% faster than Voyager 2. Accurate information concerning its location can be found in this NASA paper with heliocentric coordinates of both probes extrapolated up to 2015.

Voyager 1 is not heading towards any particular star, but in about 40,000 years it will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Ophiuchus constellation.^[11]

On March 31, 2006, the amateur radio operators from AMSAT in Germany tracked and received radio waves from Voyager 1 using the 20-metre (66 ft) dish at Bochum with a long integration technique. Its data were checked and verified against data from the Deep Space Network station at Madrid, Spain.^[12] This is believed to be the first such tracking of Voyager 1.

Voyager 1, as of May 2008, is at 12.45° declination and 17.125 hours right ascension, placing it in the constellation Ophiuchus. NASA continues daily tracking of the spacecraft with the Deep Space Network stations.

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See also

• Voyager program
• Voyager Golden Record
• Voyager 2
• Pioneer 10
• Pioneer 11
• Pale Blue Dot
• Family Portrait (Voyager)

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References

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External links

• NASA Voyager website
• Voyager Spacecraft Lifetime — interstellar mission coverage.
• Voyager 1 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• Voyager 1 (NSSDC Master Catalog)
• Spacecraft Escaping the Solar System — current positions and diagrams
• Weekly Mission Reports — includes information on current spacecraft state
• We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot. A short film on The Pale Blue Dot picture taken by Voyager. Narrated by Carl Sagan.

v • d • e Spacecraft missions to Jupiter Flybys Pioneer 10 · 11 · Voyager 1 · 2 · Ulysses · Cassini · New Horizons Orbiters Galileo Descent probes Galileo probe Future missions Juno (2011) · JEO (unscheduled) Canceled missions JIMO · Europa Orbiter  · Pioneer H Bold italics indicates active missions

v • d • e Spacecraft missions to Saturn Flybys Pioneer 11 · Voyager 1 · 2 Orbiters Cassini Bold italics indicates active missions

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