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It left Earth 33 years ago, on September 5, 1977, for a mission to explore the outer Solar System and beyond. It has without doubt performed magnificently over these multiple decades of travel.
Now, NASA states that it has crossed the boundary where the motion of the hot ionized gas (plasma) of the Sun has slowed down to a point where it is now zero -- its forward motion, or speed, is nothing!
According to the NASA article 'NASA Probe Sees Solar Wind Decline En Route To Interstellar Space,' astronomers think the Sun's plasma ''¦ has been turned sideways by the pressure from the interstellar wind in the region between stars.'
Consequently, Voyager 1 has passed through the heliosheath, the outer shell of the solar system (which is considered to be the outer boundary of the volume of space that the Sun has influence over).
The next step on Voyager 1's journey is to interstellar space, or the volume of space outside of our Solar System.
Ed Stone, the Voyager project scientist, states, "The solar wind has turned the corner. Voyager 1 is getting close to interstellar space."
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