# Voyager 1 progress **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944 "2005-05-29T01:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/1 "2005-05-29T01:43:36Z")
Voyager 1 is now into 26 years of being monitored and is 8.7 billion miles passed sun. How long would it take an object traveling at light speed right off the bat to catch up to it in a galactic game of tortoise v. hare? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/2 "2005-05-29T01:46:07Z")
When you enter “8.7 billion miles divided by the speed of light” into Google, it returns 12.9731349 hours for an answer. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/3 "2005-05-29T02:24:12Z")
I’d have thought this craft would be dead by now. > **[Voyager 1 Makes It to the Final Frontier](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-28-sci-voyager28-story.html)** > > Scientists finally agree that the spacecraft must have entered the 'heliosheath' by now. “Both Voyagers are capable of returning scientific data from a full range of instruments and have adequate electrical power and propellant to keep operating until 2020.” Apparently no. Unless NASA just quits bothering with them for budget reasons. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/4 "2005-05-29T03:06:12Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > I’d have thought this craft would be dead by now. Don’t underestimate the power of the Force. Or NASA over-engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/5 "2005-05-29T06:29:41Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Unless NASA just quits bothering with them for budget reasons. I kinda doubt analyzing telemetry from V1 and V2 makes a significant dent in the budget. Of ourse, that could change if we get a close-up picture of a curious alien. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/6 "2005-05-29T07:18:18Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Unless NASA just quits bothering with them for budget reasons. And that will always be a threat. This [story](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23500-2005Apr3.html) came out in April, saying NASA was looking to cut Voyager funding (and a few other extended missions) in order have money to pay for the startup costs for the more sexy Big Manned Boondoggle To Mars. Hopefully the news of them hitting the termination shock is enough publicity to keep the funding going. And yeah, it costs only $4.2 million a year to keep track of the Voyagers. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/7 "2005-05-29T11:32:54Z")
I was at a short astronomy course not so long ago. The lecturer (who works at Armagh Planetarium) reckoned that it would take much to keep listening to the Voyager spacecraft, even if Bush wants NASA to spend more money on heading to Mars. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/8 "2005-05-29T12:02:48Z")
94.840\_au + 17.159\_km/s \* t = 299792458\_m/s \* t t = 13.147 hours Ref. [Spacecraft escaping the Solar System](http://www.heavens-above.com/solar-escape.asp) ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/9 "2005-05-29T12:11:14Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > I kinda doubt analyzing telemetry from V1 and V2 makes a significant dent in the budget. The major expense is paying for time on the Deep Space Network. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/10 "2005-05-29T16:10:31Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Hopefully the news of them hitting the termination shock is enough publicity to keep the funding going. And yeah, it costs only $4.2 million a year to keep track of the Voyagers. Really? Wow, I’d’ve thought monitoring V1 and V2 was a lot cheaper than that, considering the now-obsolete technology involved. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyager-1-progress/305944/11 "2005-05-29T17:04:07Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Really? Wow, I’d’ve thought monitoring V1 and V2 was a lot cheaper than that, considering the now-obsolete technology involved. The only obsolete technology is that on board the spacecraft. The ground systems have been upgraded many times over the years since the spacecraft was launched. The signal that reaches Earth is steadily getting weaker as the spacecraft flies off into the galaxy.