Voyager 1 has crossed out of the heliosphere....

[Mike70]

see you later, dear friend. it's time to see what lies in the darkness between stars. NASA announced today that Voyager 1 has detected a large increase in the interstellar wind that is usually deflected away from the solar system by the heliosphere. this means, in all likelihood, that Voyager 1 has passed beyond the limit and is now either in interstellar space or rapidly approaching. As of June 14, 2012, NASA announced that Voyager 1 has reported a marked increase in its detection of charged particles from interstellar space, normally which are deflected by the solar winds within the heliosphere from the Sun. This is considered to be the edge of the solar system, at 11.1 billion miles from Earth, as the craft begins to enter the interstellar medium. Voyager 1 & 2 should give us all (esp. americans) a measure of solace. no matter what happens here, they (and New Horizons) will be wandering the galaxy for, well, forever. and someday thousands or even millions of years in the future another race may encounter them. they will know that there was once a place called the United States of America and planet called Earth in the Orion spiral arm. they may play the gold record and hear the words "greetings from the children of Earth" in English. the French language greeting is kinda funny, it simply says "Hello, everybody!" they will hear the oceans, different languages, the wind through the trees, dolphins and whales talking, and a myriad of other sounds from our planet. it also contains 90 mins of music and 115 images of earth. they will know that we laughed, cried, loved, and above all, that we were here, that we existed and we mattered. even if humans are extinct by that time, we will live on.

[rongravy]

Sweeet. I was just wondering on it the other day. How much longer are they expecting to still have contact with them? Maybe someday we'll pass them by, bring them back and put them in a museum...

[Neil]

Voyager 1 & 2 should give us all (esp. americans) a measure of solace. no matter what happens here, they (and New Horizons) will be wandering the galaxy for, well, forever. and someday thousands or even millions of years in the future another race may encounter them. they will know that there was once a place called the United States of America and planet called Earth in the Orion spiral arm. they may play the gold record and hear the words "greetings from the children of Earth" in English. the French language greeting is kinda funny, it simply says "Hello, everybody!" they will hear the oceans, different languages, the wind through the trees, dolphins and whales talking, and a myriad of other sounds from our planet. it also contains 90 mins of music and 115 images of earth. they will know that we laughed, cried, loved, and above all, that we were here, that we existed and we mattered. even if humans are extinct by that time, we will live on. That or they'll just float undetected for the next X trillion years until long after that last star has gone cold and every atom of matter in the universe has decayed into nothing more than background radiation... Just thought I'd leave you with that happy thought.

[shootemindehead]

...the French language greeting is kinda funny, it simply says "Hello, everybody!" Can't help thinking of Dr Nick from the Simpsons.

[Mike70]

That or they'll just float undetected for the next X trillion years until long after that last star has gone cold and every atom of matter in the universe has decayed into nothing more than background radiation... Just thought I'd leave you with that happy thought. i can always count on you to rain on my parade. well, being from england and all, i guess you can't help but rain on things.

[axlish]

Assuming that we would lose contol of the craft at some point, couldn't something destroy it? I'd think the first decent gravitational pull that it would encounter would put an end to it.

[Mike70]

Assuming that we would lose contol of the craft at some point, couldn't something destroy it? I'd think the first decent gravitational pull that it would encounter would put an end to it. yes, something could destroy it. a collision, repeated impacts of micro-meteorites. the gravity thing is a no go though. Voyager won't come close to another star for 40,000 years and it will pass that one at a distance of 1.6 light years.

[Neil]

Assuming that we would lose contol of the craft at some point, couldn't something destroy it? I'd think the first decent gravitational pull that it would encounter would put an end to it. We won't lose control of it - It's on it's final course now, and it's nuclear powercell will run out in the next decade or so... And then it's light out.

[Kaos]

We won't lose control of it - It's on it's final course now, and it's nuclear powercell will run out in the next decade or so... And then it's light out. Sounds like your future too, Neil! Getting up there, brother!

[acealive1]

this is as spooky as the "unmanned" shuttle which was in orbit for over a year.... someone speculated that it was a secret test for human hypersleep......now that you mention it......there was just enough room for one person on that thing.

[JDFP]

this is as spooky as the "unmanned" shuttle which was in orbit for over a year.... someone speculated that it was a secret test for human hypersleep......now that you mention it......there was just enough room for one person on that thing. You could only imagine the thoughts of an individual in such a situation... j.p.

[Neil]

Sounds like your future too, Neil! Getting up there, brother! Indeed, I suspect my powercell with run out in 25-35 years, and then I'll drift off in to the void, never to be seen again. -- -------- Post added at 11:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 AM ---------- Here's an interesting article - http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/sci...ws-report.html Voyager 1 is now 11,100,000,000 miles away from the little blue dot called Earth, the only place in the universe where you can find an intelligent race called “humanity”. Walking on the moon, splitting the atom, both great achievements, but ultimately fleeting. If the Earth is destroyed tomorrow, there will be no sign that any of it ever happened. But Voyager 1 will keep going. No matter what happens to us now, in Voyager 1, we know that at least some piece of us will continue on. That’s huge. Think about it for a second. We’ve sent something out of the solar system. This is humanity screaming as loudly as it can out into the cosmos. To the cosmos and anything listening out in it, our voice is only the tiniest, almost undetectable whisper; yet for the first time in the billions of years this universe has existed, there’s something out there delivering the most important message humanity will ever send… “We are here. We are here. We are here.” It’s the only message that matters. This is the most important thing humanity has ever done. Tune in to your local news tomorrow night. They won’t be talking about it. They won’t be talking about it because we no longer care, but maybe we should. To the universe, we’re just a tiny little speck. But this speck has a voice. Maybe it’s time we shouted louder.

[krakenslayer]

Or maybe we should keep our heads down and avoid drawing attention to ourselves. If there are indeed numerous interstellar civilisations out there, it stands to reason that there would be little of interest to them that they could learn from us, given that they would have to be a lot more advanced, technologically. It also seems likely that those civilisations which survive long enough to reach the interstellar phase of development would be the most ruthless survivors and the ones which are most skillful and jealous at exploiting and protecting resources. Such a civilisation may not take kindly to the emergence of a possible competitor, and seek to contain or even exterminate the emergent civilisation before it can spread.

[Neil]

Or maybe we should keep our heads down and avoid drawing attention to ourselves. If there are indeed numerous interstellar civilisations out there, it stands to reason that there would be little of interest to them that they could learn from us, given that they would have to be a lot more advanced, technologically. It also seems likely that those civilisations which survive long enough to reach the interstellar phase of development would be the most ruthless survivors and the ones which are most skillful and jealous at exploiting and protecting resources. Such a civilisation may not take kindly to the emergence of a possible competitor, and seek to contain or even exterminate the emergent civilisation before it can spread. Have you read "Dark Matter" in the fiction section?

[krakenslayer]

Have you read "Dark Matter" in the fiction section? Nope. Should I remedy that fact? EDIT: Oops, no can do, apparently: not subscribed. I thought you guys had done away with paid subscriptions. Guess not. I suppose you gotta eat too.