Thirty-five years ago today, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft set off on its journey to interstellar space – and it’s now teetering on the edge.
“It made no sense to stay home. Now that I’m 35 I ran out of healthcare.”
It’s not easy to pinpoint the exact moment it will pass through the heliopause, or boundary of the solar system, but measurements have been indicating for some months that it’s very close. “Even 35 years on, our rugged Voyager spacecraft are poised to make new discoveries as we eagerly await the signs that we’ve entered interstellar space,” says Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Wow. Just wow. Am I correct in remembering that Voyager only puts out a 2 watt signal? And they are stilling receiving it?
And it has an onboard 8-track player.