Sun, Nov 09, 2003
Can You Hear Me Now? Good.
Call it the little space probe that could, designed to last just
five years. Twenty-six years later, still ticking.
"This little engine that could was not designed for this kind of
lifetime," said Louis Lanzerotti. He's a Bell Labs expert on
solar wind who has been involved with the Voyager program since
1972. "It's absolutely remarkable."
Along with its sister
ship, Voyager II, Voyager I has been on an incredible journey, now
more than 90 AU (astronomical units -- the distance between the
Earth and Sun) away now, it continues to function. It passed the
outer reaches of the heliosphere, the area of space directly
influenced by our sun. Yet it continues to faithfully send
data.
"We do have enough electrical power, if nothing breaks on the
spacecraft, we can continue till 2020," said Edward Stone. He's a
Voyager scientist at the California Institute of Technology. a
Voyager project scientists based at the California Institute of
Technology, said at a briefing at NASA headquarters.
Some scientists believe the probe has entered interstellar
space, a place beyond the solar winds. Others say that crossing
won't take place until 2020 or thereabouts. Voyager carries a solid
gold record offering greetings from all of mankind in its various
languages, just in case a passing stranger wanders by.
After leaving the solar neighborhood, both Voyager spacecraft
veered away from the plane in which all planets reside. Voyager I
went "up," while Voyager II went "down."
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