by Voyager 1 is the first ever space probe to enter the interstellar space outperforming its expectation. Voyager 1 sends signal back to Earth even after 43 years after its launch. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were the missions initially planned to explore the four gas giants of our solar system Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These two missions were planned in the 1960s when the rare alignment of the four planets was to occur in the 1970s, which would allow the space probes to use the gravity of the planets to slingshot its way to the other planets.
When this unique alignment of planets was found to be occurring every 175 years, the two mission were scheduled to be launched in the later half of the 1970s. This Technique of using the gravitational pull of the planets to slingshot the space probe could not only save our fuel but this will also speed up our mission. This mission could get to four planets and observe them, slingshoting across planets and its speed is boosted by the gravity of the planets by also changing its trajectory. We have made some discoveries regarding the Saturn's rings and the Jupiter's Giant Red spot. The biggest moons of Saturn and Jupiter were also explored and observed by the Voyager spacecraft.
 |
| The Golden record having the saying "To the makers of music - all worlds, all times" hand-etched on its surface. Source: NASA |
The idea of extraterrestrial civilization intercepting our Voyager craft was also thought out and the American Scientist Carl Sagan prepared a golden record to be present inside the both the Spacecrafts. The Golden records consists of 115 images encoded in analog form, human greeting in 55 languages across the world, variety of natural earth sounds like wind, thunder, and the sounds of animals. Even the popular songs where placed in the analog form in the golden record. It also contains the details of our location in our star system, denoting the position of our sun among the pulsars if just in case the extraterrestrial beings wonder where this space probe came from.
Will Voyager One leave the milky way?
Voyager 1 Spacecraft
Even though the powering systems on the space probe fails after a few years, it will continue on its trajectory out of the solar system. Voyager 1 made history by becoming the first spacecraft to leave our solar system and it entered the interstellar space. The journey made by the Voyager amuses the scientist and engineers as it was only expected to examine the planets in the outer solar system, exceeding its expectations and venturing outside of the Solar system. The Voyager 1 will lose its energy in a few years, but it will go on forever and after 40,000 years if it follows the same trajectory, it might come across the nearest star which is 1.7 light-years away.
How far away can Voyager One go before we lost contact?
The Voyager 1 and its sister probe Voyager 2 has been the longest-serving space probe in human history. The Voyager one has been travelling for almost 43 years now and it has crossed over 21 billion kilometres (13.04 billion miles) away from our planet. It has been travelling at the speed of 61,000 kilometres per hour (37903.6 miles per hour). We still haven't lost the communication from the Voyager 1 space probe, but we might lose the communication one day as the strength of the signal from the Voyager 1 gets weaker and weaker as they move further away from our planet.
The Famous "Pale blue Dot" image of the Earth taken from outside our solar system. Source: NASA
With the technological advancements made in detecting the weaker signal from the cosmos, we could potentially receive signals from the Voyager 1 indefinitely. But rather that will not be the case as the Voyager 1 probe is powered by the nuclear generator, it might lose its power and it can't be able to send the signals back to Earth. After taking the image of the Earth as a pale blue dot in the darkness of Space, the cameras of the Voyager 1 are powered off to expand its life period. Now only 4 of the 11 scientific instruments present in the Voyager probe remains up and running. In about 7 years time, the energy on the space probe might run out and it will send its last transmission to Earth, ending its glorious purpose.
