Voyager 1 To Pass the 90 AU Mark

[Shyriath]

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/voyager1-03a.html

{i}Pasadena - Oct 30, 2003
The Voyager journey of discovery continues. After traveling through space for more than 26 years, voyager 1 is approaching a new milestone. On November 5, 2003, the spacecraft will be 90 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. 90 AU is the equivalent of about 8.4 billion miles or 13.5 billion kilometers.

...

Recent observations indicate that Voyager 1 is in a region unlike any encounter in its 26 years of exploration. These observations and what they may infer about the approach to the termination shock will be the subject of a NASA Space Science Update (SSU) on November 5, 2003. The SSU will be carried live on NASA Select beginning at 1:00 PM EST.

:yourock: Go, Voyager! :yourock:

[bamademo]

1. V'ger must meet with the Creator

Sorry, Star Trek Geekess here. :evilgrin:

[SeekerofTruth]

9. I laughed, but I'm concerned...

If V'ger returns, who will save us?

[Richardo]

2. SO cool! Thanks for the post...

...makes me proud to be human.

[ret5hd]

3. what is 'termination shock"...i read the article, but...(nt)

[Shyriath]

4. As far as I know...

...and keep in mind, I'm trying to recall this from a memory far too creaky for a 20-year-old... the termination shock has something to do with the edge of the sun's magnetic field. There is a constant flow of interstellar cosmic rays that collides with the magnetic field and flows around it, and that's termination shock. (I think. I'm not TOO far off the mark, I hope.) The Voyager craft is approaching the region of space where this collision occurs, which is why it mentions "the approach to the termination shock".

[pmbryant]

5. I think that's basically correct

Once Voyager 1 gets past that zone, it is truly into interstellar space, beyond the influence of the Sun.

It will be a momentous occasion if it is still operating when it reaches that point.

:D

--Peter

[Dudley_DUright]

6. Yes, there is a good explanation at the JPL site

The mission objective of the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) is to extend the NASA exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun's sphere of influence, and possibly beyond. This extended mission is continuing to characterize the outer solar system environment and search for the heliopause boundary, the outer limits of the Sun's magnetic field and outward flow of the solar wind. Penetration of the heliopause boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar medium will allow measurements to be made of the interstellar fields, particles and waves unaffected by the solar wind.

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar.html

BTW for reference, 1 AU is the orbital distance of the earth from the sun (about 93 million miles).

[htuttle]

7. Great link

I didn't realize they were still receiving so much data from the Voyagers.

[cprise]

8. "Heliopause :"

The heliopause is the boundary where our Sun's solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium.

The solar wind blows a "bubble" in the interstellar medium (the rareified hydrogen and helium gas that permeates the galaxy). The point where the solar wind's strength is no longer great enough to push back the interstellar medium is known as the heliopause, and is often considered to be the outer "border" of the solar system.

more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliopause