Voyager 1 will exit solar system soon, is so close to the void it can taste it

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Endurance: it's important in every race, including the space race, even though many pundits would argue that it kind of fizzled a long time ago. Thirty-three years prior to now, NASA's Voyager 1 began its journey to check in on the outer planets. It accomplished that goal in 1989, and has since moved on to bigger and better things -- you know, like leaving the solar system. Ten billion miles away, Voyager 1's Low-Energy Charged Particle Instrument is spitting out "solid zeroes," which means it's not detecting any more outward movement from solar winds. The heliopause (read: the official edge of the solar system) is just a few short years away for the radioactive-powered spacecraft, which is frightening to think about regardless of your experience in Space Camp. What will happen once it enters interstellar space? We're not sure, but we're trying to set up radio comms with its earth-bound synthesizer progeny for some kind of freaky space jam. We'll keep you posted.

[image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech]

Voyager 1 will exit solar system soon, is so close to the void it can taste it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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