Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma

Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by tablespoon on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @02:36AM (#27114907)

> It's pretty wild that this probe, launched 44 years ago (1977) and now well beyond the solar system, can still take novel measurements and transmit information back.

Through (according to Wikipedia) the party might end in just a few years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1:

> Voyager 1's extended mission is expected to continue until about 2025, when its radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) will no longer supply enough electric power to operate its scientific instruments.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by The_rationalist on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:12AM (#27115147)

What about voyager 2 lifetime ? Humanity hasn't sent any probe having an extra-solar system target since 1977?? If so, this is extremely sad and distant space exploration will die and 50 years will be lost. I attribute this mediocrity to the anti nuclear/RTG lobby at NASA

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by csunbird on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:32AM (#27115294)

We haven’t sent another probe, not because of anti nuclear lobby, but because of there was an unique event of planets being nearly on a line around 1970, which allowed NASA to plot a series of gravity assists, instead of one or two, that allowed gaining immense amount of free velocity.

Sun’s gravity well is so immense that escaping it requires a very, very large amount of energy. I am not sure if it could be done with conventional rockets with current technology, without multiple gravity assists.

Edit: As the child comment says, it seems to be possible with current technology. It is very exciting!

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by teraflop on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:44AM (#27115355)

> I am not sure if it could be done with conventional rockets with current technology, without multiple gravity assists.

Yes, it can. New Horizons is escaping the solar system only a little bit slower than the Voyager probes, and it was already on an escape trajectory before its single Jupiter gravity assist.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by ProAm on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @10:04AM (#27118245)

New Horizons is quite a bit slower and will never overtake the Voyager probes distance wise.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by throwaway894345 on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @09:37AM (#27117957)

I wonder what hope we have for making probes that will last longer (i.e., “do science even deeper in space”) than Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons. Specifically, whether we can make RTGs or other power sources that last longer and/or scientific instruments that operate with lower power (without compromising on quality or quantity of observations). Maybe there just isn’t much science to do beyond the Kuiper Belt (or rather, getting 50 years beyond the Kuiper Belt doesn’t improve science much more than making the same observations from the KB itself due to the vastness of space)?

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by foobarian on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @11:21AM (#27119157)

I'm puzzled by the requirement for an alignment. It seems one could gravity assist in arbitrary directions though it might take longer. But should still end up with a similar energy gain.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by Jeff_Brown on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @11:50PM (#27126382)

The gravity assist works by transferring some of the planet's momentum to the craft, and that momentum has a direction, not just an amount.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by phreeza on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:38AM (#27115322)

The trajectory for the Voyager probes was made possible by the alignment of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A similar alignment will not occur again until the middle of the 22nd century.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by throwawayboise on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @01:11PM (#27120636)

Handy coincidence that the last alignment happened just as our technology reached the point where we could take advantage of it.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by Denvercoder9 on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @05:59AM (#27116192)

> Humanity hasn't sent any probe having an extra-solar system target since 1977??

The Voyagers didn't have an extrasolar target either, they were meant to visit the outer planets. If we're looking at probes that leave the solar system after their original mission, we launched New Horizons in 2006 to Pluto, and it's currently in the Kuiper Belt on its way to leave the solar system.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by fogihujy on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:30AM (#27116744)

Just to add to that: NH is on it's way out of the system now, after 15 years, and it should have another 15-20 years left in it's RTG.

Meanwhile, there are actual interstellar probes being planned, in addition to several missions to the outer solar system (and which could end up in interstellar space afterwards).

And there's a ton of missions planned for the inner regions of the Solar system -- space exploration is still a thing and there's a lot of exciting things happening.

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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma by phist_mcgee on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:33AM (#27115304)

Slow down with the over-dramatisation buddy. Nothing has been lost, interstellar exploration hasn't died, and I am not exactly sure why an anti-nuclear lobby at NASA has anything to do with either of these things.

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