[quote]New data collected by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft have helped scientists confirm that the far-flung probe is indeed cruising through interstellar space, the researchers say.
Voyager 1 made headlines around the world last year when mission scientists announced that the probe had apparently left the heliosphere — the huge bubble of charged particles and magnetic fields surrounding the sun — in August 2012.
They came to this conclusion after analyzing measurements Voyager 1 made in the wake of a powerful solar eruption known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME. The shock wave from this CME caused the particles around Voyager 1 to vibrate substantially, allowing mission scientists to calculate the density of the probe's surroundings (because denser plasma oscillates faster.)
This density was much higher than that observed in the outer layers of the heliosphere, allowing team members to conclude that Voyager 1 had entered a new cosmic realm. (Instellar space is emptier than areas near Earth, but the solar system thins out dramatically near the heliosphere's edge.)
The CME in question erupted in March 2012, and its shock wave reached Voyager 1 in April 2013. After these data came in, the team dug up another, much smaller CME-shock event from late 2012 that had initially gone unnoticed. By combining these separate measurements with knowledge of Voyager 1's cruising speed, the researchers were able to trace the probe's entry into interstellar space to August 2012.
And now mission scientists have confirmation, in the form of data from a third CME shock, which Voyager 1 observed in March of this year, NASA officials announced Monday (July 7).[/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.space.com/26462-voyager-1-interstellar-space-confirmed.html[/url]
Does Voyager 1 have enough delta v to escape our sun's sphere of influence?
This is such a vague thing, why even bother.
It's on an escape orbit from the sun, that's all we need to know.
[editline]8th July 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Alyx;45329294]Does Voyager 1 have enough delta v to escape our sun's sphere of influence?[/QUOTE]
Clearly.
[QUOTE=Alyx;45329294]Does Voyager 1 have enough delta v to escape our sun's sphere of influence?[/QUOTE]
no, voyager 1 has very little deltaV, but its massive gravity assisted flight that involved swinging by several planets coupled with launching on the most powerful booster available to NASA in the 70s gave it enough
[QUOTE=Alyx;45329294]Does Voyager 1 have enough delta v to escape our sun's sphere of influence?[/QUOTE]
It doesn't have any delta-v anymore, but its velocity exceeds the escape velocity for the sun. The only way for it to return to the solar system is for the solar system to completely orbit around the galaxy core and coincidentally get close to the probe again, but the chance of that happening is next to nil.
[QUOTE=Alyx;45329294]Does Voyager 1 have enough delta v to escape our sun's sphere of influence?[/QUOTE]
it's already moving faster than escape velocity, it's just a matter of waiting for it to leave the very vaguely defined boundary of the edge of our solar system.
It's that time of the week again
So. It's traveled 1/5000th of a light year.
can't wait until it finally leaves the solar system
when I'm like 90 or dead
[QUOTE=Alyx;45329294]Does Voyager 1 have enough delta v to escape our sun's sphere of influence?[/QUOTE]
This is why I'm a little irritated that KSP has turned delta-V into some kind of fuel for interstellar travel. Delta-V is a change in velocity, not a measurement of power or some kind of fuel.
This would make a great opening to a movie about aliens.
Sending the Voyager 1 way out into space. Scientists confirm that it has left Interstellar Space. Couple years later or whatever, one scientists brings up that the Voyager 1 has stopped moving. Scientists begin asking "why". Another few years later, the Voyager 1 is caught moving at insane speeds back to Earth. Aliens come.
The fact that we're still receiving data from the fucking thing is nothing short of [b]incredible[/b].
Like all probes of this nature i hope that WHEN we master space flight we can bring these things back to earth and keep them as relics
[QUOTE=J!NX;45330297]can't wait until it finally leaves the solar system
when I'm like 90 or dead[/QUOTE]
we'll probably have an alcubierre drive model by then :v:
[QUOTE=_Maverick_;45330629]Like all probes of this nature i hope that WHEN we master space flight we can bring these things back to earth and keep them as relics[/QUOTE]
No, it's kinda more fulfilling to keep them running as long as possible.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;45330545]The fact that we're still receiving data from the fucking thing is nothing short of [b]incredible[/b].[/QUOTE]
robust circuitry and that lovely little thermoelectric generator cluster that those whacky scientists gave it. :v:
[editline]8th July 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=cartman300;45330739]No, it's kinda more fulfilling to keep them running as long as possible.[/QUOTE]
He's probably right though. It's most likely going to end up in a museum with a much newer sort of probe continuing on distances we wouldn't even dream the voyager could travel during its operation time.
Well, does this mean Interstellar Marines can come true? I want to run around with UMP .45s and rifle-styled Kriss Vectors :v:
Didn't they fucking confirm this last year.
[QUOTE=eirexe;45331110]Didn't they fucking confirm this last year.[/QUOTE]
Thing is, the border to interstellar space is what you make of it. Scientists just constantly redefine it since we keep getting new readings from Voyager on what's out there.
[QUOTE=_Maverick_;45330629]Like all probes of this nature i hope that WHEN we master space flight we can bring these things back to earth and keep them as relics[/QUOTE]
I hope we'll see faster than light travel in this generation.
I bet the Heliosphere pulsates due to the solar wind strength being given off by our Sun. So some days/months/years its around 14 billion km wide and others its like 10 billion km. So really Voyager is being thrust in and out of it based on how "hard the solar wind is blowing that day".
[QUOTE=slayer20;45330397]This would make a great opening to a movie about aliens.
Sending the Voyager 1 way out into space. Scientists confirm that it has left Interstellar Space. Couple years later or whatever, one scientists brings up that the Voyager 1 has stopped moving. Scientists begin asking "why". Another few years later, the Voyager 1 is caught moving at insane speeds back to Earth. Aliens come.[/QUOTE]
I thought that Star Trek: The Motion Picture did a good take on that, however they already knew about extraterrestrials in the 23rd/24th centuries. So a contemporary setting would be an interesting first contact movie. (See Contact (1997) )
[QUOTE=Keys;45331733]I bet the Heliosphere pulsates due to the solar wind strength being given off by our Sun. So some days/months/years its around 14 billion km wide and others its like 10 billion km. So really Voyager is being thrust in and out of it based on how "hard the solar wind is blowing that day".[/QUOTE]
The [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle"]solar cycle[/URL] has an average period of about 11 years.
[editline]8th July 2014[/editline]
I'm not sure if it effects the solar wind speed though.
Breaking: The edge of the solar system is actually a series of hundreds of concentric heliospheres.
[QUOTE=DaCommie1;45330393]This is why I'm a little irritated that KSP has turned delta-V into some kind of fuel for interstellar travel. Delta-V is a change in velocity, not a measurement of power or some kind of fuel.[/QUOTE]
Viewing it as a measurement of remaining fuel effectiveness is not far off though so I'm not sure of the complaint. The problem with his post was that he didn't understand that Voyager might be on an escape trajectory already without any extra power, not that he used delta-V somehow wrong. It would have been equivalent to say, "Does Voyager 1 have enough fuel to escape our sun's sphere of influence?"
Before even more people say something about how this seems to happen all the time, I'd just like to point out that this is about the same "leaving the solar system" event that has been reported earlier, and that this is just extra confirmation for that.
[QUOTE=DaCommie1;45330393]This is why I'm a little irritated that KSP has turned delta-V into some kind of fuel for interstellar travel. Delta-V is a change in velocity, not a measurement of power or some kind of fuel.[/QUOTE]
delta-v represents a budget for manoeuvres, i'd say it's accurate, though obviously voyager doesn't have any more delta v
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