Apparently Voyager has left the Solar System. I don’t know who gets to decide that, or how, or exactly what demarcation line you use, but it’s out there. 11 billion lmiles out, or 17 light-hours:
http://news.yahoo.com/voyager-1-probe-leaving-solar-system-reaches-magnetic-023825204.html
We’re well on our way to STMP.
NASA gets to decide. Voyager has been measuring many things as it travels and they’re monitoring to see how far out the various influences of the sun reach.
From the article, the probe passed the limit of the solar wind in 2004. (Well, the straight portion - there were turbulent solar particles farther out.) It’s now in a transition zone which they think marks the edge of the sun’s magnetic influence. Per the article, they’re near, but not yet in interstellar space.
Here’s another article. Here’s the NASA press releasethat they both come from.
I’m really glad this didn’t turn out to be a thread telling us that something had happened to Voyager the poster.
Is NASA still in communication with Voyager? If so, how long can that go on?
Vger does not understand!
Ditto.
Give that probe a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
I haven’t seen how long they estimate that it can continue, but they’re still hearing both of them. That has got to be one dwindlingly small signal by now. Well, two dwindlingly small signals.
How can you be sure it’s not.
This will end badly, mark my words. We shouldn’t do anything to tell them we are here until we are capable of defeating them if they decide to come knocking.
Because rolling a marble into the door way (not even onto the front porch let alone our own yard) let’s the next town know we’re here.
Congratulations, we’ve sent something 1/2200th of the distance to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star. Except in a different direction.
Oops. Is it too late to turn this thing around?
Not to worry. I’m armed with a board with a nail in it.
Don’t they need to build four more Voyagers first?
What if we had to stop Voyager? With today’s best tech, how long would it take for a probe launched today to catch up to it?
We’ve had email for years.
Yeah, but Voyager never returns my emails. Stuck up bitch.
There’s no conceivable reason that we would ever need to stop it.
Depends. What size board, and what size nail?