Monday, February 25, 2013

Vger (Any Star Trek Fans Out There?)

In the movie Star Trek The Motion Picture, one of Earth's probes returns home. In its time away from Earth the Voyager 6 craft had become much more than what it was when it left our solar system. An interesting concept to say the least.

What go me thinking about Voyager, was an app for the iPhone that my good friend Blaine showed me this weekend. It was a NASA app that gave you all kinds of information on current and older programs. While browsing the various items the app had to offer, I came across the Voyager 1 & 2 status. To my surprise both craft are still providing information to NASA scientist.

Both craft were launched in 1977 and visited Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 continued on to visit Uranus and Neptune. Here are some of the images that these spunky little craft sent back to Earth.




As of March 2012 - Here is the status of both Voyager craft:

Voyager 1 was at a distance of 17.9 billion kilometers (119.9 AU) from the Sun.

Voyager 2 was at a distance of 14.7 billion kilometers (98.3 AU).

Voyager 1 is escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.6 AU per year.
Voyager 2 is escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.3 AU per year.

There are currently five science investigation teams participating in the Interstellar Mission. They are:
1. Magnetic field investigation
2. Low energy charged particle investigation
3. Cosmic ray investigation
4. Plasma Investigation (Voyager 2 only)
5. Plasma wave investigation
Five instruments onboard the Voyagers directly support the five science investigations. The five instruments are:
1. Magnetic field instrument (MAG)
2. Low energy charged particle instrument (LECP)
3. Cosmic ray instrument (CRS)
4. Plasma instrument (PLS)
5. Plasma wave instrument (PWS)
One other instrument is collecting data but does not have official science investigation associated with it:
6. Ultraviolet spectrometer subsystem (UVS), Voyager 1 only


Makes you wonder if Start Trek The Motion Picture could actually happen... Pffft... Whatever.


-Red
www.jeffjake.com
www.facebook.com/jeffreyrjake
Twitter @MortisG187

Contact Jeff by email at author@jeffjake.com


No comments:

Post a Comment