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| Vayager 1: Farthest Space Probe. (Source: NASA) |
There are lot space flight and mission till today. Many space probes are
wondering in the space in the search of different scientific discoveries but
then one important question arises in mind “ Which is the farthest space probe
till today?”
The answer lies in the very far lying machine which is traveling at
tremendous speed of human history away from us called Voyager 1.
Voyager 1 is the farthest space probe at present time, it was found at the distance of 123 AU (1.840x1010 Km) on November 2012. It is very close to enter the interstellar space leaving our solar system.
Voyager 1 is the farthest space probe at present time, it was found at the distance of 123 AU (1.840x1010 Km) on November 2012. It is very close to enter the interstellar space leaving our solar system.
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| Gold Plated Audio Visual Disc kept in Voyager 1. ( Source: NASA) |
There is lot of information kept in the space probe so that if any
intelligent species will approach it in future they can know about Human. All
the information
is written on Gold plated audio
visual disc which include scientific techniques, spoken greeting from people,
different sounds on Earth like sound of whale, baby crying, breaking of waves on shores and
a collection of Earth Music.
is written on Gold plated audio
visual disc which include scientific techniques, spoken greeting from people,
different sounds on Earth like sound of whale, baby crying, breaking of waves on shores and
a collection of Earth Music.
There were 11 scientific instruments out of which only 5 are active
today. Its signal took around 16 hours to reach Earth. It is power by
three radioisotope thermoelectric generator ( RTG ) which gives it power of 470
watts. They can power it up to 2025.
It was launched on September 5, 1977 to study the outer planet and
interstellar space. It was observed in 1960 that all the four outer planets
were aligning them so a space mission was planned to study using a new
technique called gravity assist. Gravity assist is the technique of using
gravitational attraction of different heavenly bodies to increase the speed of
space probes so that less propulsion can give high speeds.
Voyager 1 used the gravity assist very well and reached the Jupiter on March 5,
1979 at closest distance of 349,000 Km. It took lot of pictures of Jupiter and its
rings, magnetic fields and moons. It also observed the radiation belt
around Jupiter and volcanic activities on Io (moon) which was unseen before its
approach.
Voyager 1 used the gravity assist of Jupiter and reached Saturn on November
12, 1980 at the closest distance of 124,000 Km. It detected the complex
structures of Saturn’s Ring and its remote sensing instruments also detected atmosphere
of Saturn and its giant moon Titan. The gravity assist provided by Saturn’s mass was very
huge so that its trajectory tilted out of plane of ecliptic in which all planet
moves. So now it can be directed towards the Pluto but scientist directed it
toward more important and less risky titan and that resulted in the end of its
primary mission of planetary study. After that it moved away from the solar system.
In November 17, 1998, Voyager 1 had changed the history by crossing the
Pioneer 10 and become the farthest probe of human history at the distance of
69.419 AU. It is moving at tremendous speed of 17.26 Km/s. There is no mission in
future or present that can cross Voyager 1 because New Horizons is moving at
very low speed of 15 km/s which will be further lowered to 13 Km/s when it will
be at present distance of voyager 1.
In 2003 it reaches the region of termination shock where the speed of
solar wind decreases to subsonic speed. In 2005, researcher found that it was
in the region of heliosheath.In October 2012, it was in the heliopause where
the speed of solar wind decreases to zero due to pressure of interstellar
waves. It is now detecting the cosmic radiations mostly and solar particles are
very less indicating that it very near to the end of our solar system boundary. This
was named “Magnetic Highway” by scientists.
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| Present Position of Voyager 1. (Source: NASA) |
It is not moving towards any particular star but it will reach Gliese in
40,000 year at distance of 1.6 light years. This star is moving toward
our solar system at the speed
of 119 Km/s.
It was predicted that Voyager 1 will enter the interstellar space in
2013-2015.