Table of Contents
Where is Voyager 1 right now?
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is currently over 14.1 billion miles from Earth. It’s moving at a speed of approximately 38,000 miles per hour and not long ago passed through our solar system’s boundary with interstellar space.
How far are the Voyager probes?
Mission Status
| Voyager 1 | Voyager 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 14,509,611,119 mi | 12,067,503,761 mi |
| 156.09154537 AU | 129.81983427 AU | |
| Distance from Sun | 14,580,918,366 mi | 12,141,724,087 mi |
| 156.85865472 AU | 130.61828195 AU |
How fast do Voyager probes travel?
Traveling at speeds of over 35,000 miles per hour, it will take the Voyagers nearly 40,000 years, and they will have traveled a distance of about two light years to reach this rather indistinct boundary. But there is a more definitive and unambiguous frontier, which the Voyagers will approach and pass through.
Can Voyager still take pictures?
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.
What missions have been undertaken by space probes?
Some of the missions undertaken by space probes include: 1 Viking 1 and Viking 2 – landed on Mars in the 1970s, took photographs and analysed soil samples 2 Mars Global Surveyor – went into orbit around Mars in 1996/1997 and mapped the surface in 3D 3 Spirit and Opportunity – two robot vehicles that landed on Mars in 2004
Where did Voyager 1 cross the boundary?
In 2013, Voyager 1 crossed the boundary between the space dominated by the Sun’s magnetic field and the space between the stars. “The Sun creates this huge bubble around the planets,” says Stone.
How can space probes help us explore other planets?
Space probes can explore other planets without needing astronauts. The Earth’s atmosphere contains about 21 per cent oxygen as a result of photosynthesis by plants and single-celled organisms. If we found evidence of oxygen in the atmosphere of another planet, it could indicate the presence of life forms.
What are some of the biggest scientific surprises from Voyager?
Some of the biggest scientific surprises came from the moons, which Voyager revealed to be much more than inert lumps of rock As well as assisting the spacecraft, the position of the planets also affected the birth rate at JPL.