TAG | NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft finds lopsided shape of solar system |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Sunday, 06 July 2008 | |
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Page 3 of 3 Voyager 2 is now on a course into the heliosheath, the region of the heliosphere beyond the termination shock wave. As of May 9, 2008, Voyager 2 is at a distance of around 85.84 AU (approximately 7.98 billion miles or 0.001357 light-years) from the Sun. Its distance traveled per year is about 3.28 AUs. As of May 22, 2008, Voyager 1 was at a distance of 106.4 AU (approximately 10 billion miles or 0.0017 light-years) from the Sun. Voyager 1 is considered the most distant human-made object from Earth Scientists now think that Voyager 1 will reach the heliopause sometime in 2015 (and Voyager 2 will reach it sometime after this year)—that is, the spacecraft will exit our solar system and enter interstellar space in that year. They are hopeful that Voyager 1 and 2 will continue to produce data through 2015 and maybe even up to ten years later—if we’re lucky. In summary, we are learning more and more about how our solar system, all controlled by the Sun, functions in relation to the rest of local interstellar space--the space adjoining our solar system. These old spacecraft are still providing valuable information about our lives here on Earth as we orbit the Sun and zip through the Milky Way Galaxy, all while inside our solar system. More information on the Voyager program is found at NASA’s “Voyager: The Interstellar Mission” Comparative positions in the solar system of Voyager 1 and 2, along with NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11, is found at Heavens Above “Spacecraft escaping the Solar System”
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