Elvis Has Left The Building! Or Maybe Not.

A few weeks back I did a post about the Voyager space craft. (2/25/13) In that post I gave you an update of the Voyager 1 & 2 as of March 2012. After 36 years both of the probes continue to send data back to NASA.

Well the Voyager 1 probe has hit the headlines this month. The data that was received from the craft initially indicated that it may have left the solar system. That would make it the first man made object to reach interstellar space. At a distance of 11.3 billion miles, equipment measured a drastic change in radiation levels. At first, this was thought to be a sign that the little probe had left the solar system.

However, after going over the data, the lead on the project issued a statement that Voyager in fact has not made it to interstellar space. Kind of a bummer.

Here is a link to the recent press release.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/20/science/la-sci-voyager-20130321


Don't you hate that... get all excited... pop the cork on the champagne... pull out the party hats... kiss that cute co-worker... only to find out... whoops.. we were wrong. Now... it's just uncomfortable.


-Red
www.jeffjake.com
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Twitter @MortisG187

Email Jeff at author@jeffjake.com

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