Voyager spacecraft nears exit of solar system

[alienlovechild 75]

The US space agency's Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached the outer edge of the solar system where wind from the Sun is no longer blowing outward, but sideways, NASA said. The spacecraft was launched in 1977 and has since snapped images of Earth and other planets in the solar system and provided NASA with crucial information as it makes its long journey into outer space.

NASA researchers think Voyager 1 will leave the solar system and enter interstellar space, or the area in between the end of the Sun's influence and the next star system, in about four years.

For now, Voyager 1 is 17.4 billion kilometers (10.8 billion miles) from the Sun in "an area where the velocity of the hot ionized gas, or plasma, emanating directly outward from the sun has slowed to zero," the space agency said.

NASA noticed that the solar wind's outward speed had slowed to zero back in June, but wanted to look at readings from Voyager 1 over the next four months to be sure.

"When I realized that we were getting solid zeroes, I was amazed," said Rob Decker, a Voyager Low-Energy Charged Particle Instrument co-investigator and senior scientist at Johns Hopkins University.

"Here was Voyager, a spacecraft that has been a workhorse for 33 years, showing us something completely new again."

NASA described the finding as "a major milestone in Voyager 1's passage through the heliosheath, the turbulent outer shell of the sun's sphere of influence, and the spacecraft's upcoming departure from our solar system."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.b97f22024bc6db2a202c8cbfa569513d.101&show_article=1

[Teacher Mark 53]

As the Secretary General of the United Nations, an organizations of the 147 member states who represent almost all of the human inhabitants of the planet earth. I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of the immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step.

Kurt Waldheim

[secretary General]

[spookyturtle 9,466]

And Voyager was V'ger in Star Trek The Motion Picture.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

And Voyager was V'ger in Star Trek The Motion Picture.

Quit being such a Trekkie.

BTW, that means that Nomad will be returning soon enough now that it's past Uranus.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Quit being such a Trekkie.

BTW, that means that Nomad will be returning soon enough now that it's past Uranus.

The funny thing is, I'm not a Trekkie. An old flame from decades ago was into the series and we went to see the movie when it came out 30 years ago. But to this day I remember V'ger.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

How do you pronounce V'ger, because I'm hearing badger in my head, only with a 'v'.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

How do you pronounce V'ger, because I'm hearing badger in my head, only with a 'v'.

vee-jer

[one...two...tree 2,762]

vee-jer

Of course. More beaver than badger.

[thongd4me 69]

And Voyager was V'ger in Star Trek The Motion Picture.

Good work ST - they were trying to decode the class of starship "vee-cher"

and it turned out to be "Voyager" - which was then spun off into a whole new

Star Trek series....

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

When some alien craft finally encounters Voyager 1, with its radio isotope generator leaking radiation, and the whole thing contaminated, whether they will actually investigate it at great risk to their health to find the items sent, or simply send it all back from where it came, with a note not to litter space any more.

[Ban Hammer 13,619]

When some alien craft finally encounters Voyager 1, with its radio isotope generator leaking radiation, and the whole thing contaminated, whether they will actually investigate it at great risk to their health to find the items sent, or simply send it all back from where it came, with a note not to litter space any more.

it will probably come back with a space suspension notice

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

The funny thing is, I'm not a Trekkie. An old flame from decades ago was into the series and we went to see the movie when it came out 30 years ago. But to this day I remember V'ger.

No, you just remember going where no man has gone before.

You're from Montreal so you can't be a Quebekkie either.

You just had a thing for Persis Khambatta, admit it.

[scandal 951]

You're from Montreal so you can't be a Quebekkie either.

He's not from Montreal. But Captain Kirk (i.e. William Shatner) is a nice Jewish boy from Montreal. In fact, he went to the same high school my mother attended (Baron Byng).

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

He's not from Montreal. But Captain Kirk (i.e. William Shatner) is a nice Jewish boy from Montreal. In fact, he went to the same high school my mother attended (Baron Byng).

This we knew! The part about your mother I didn't, thanks for sharing.

BTW, I meant to say that SPOOKS is not from La Belle Province, but the printer's devil has been giving me fits all day. May have something to do with the P3-800 I'm using.

Edited December 16, 2010 by IR5FORMUMSIE