How Fast Was Voyager 2 Traveling?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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The probe entered interstellar space on November 5, 2018, at a distance of 122 AU (11.3 billion mi; 18.3 billion km) (about 16:58 light-hours) from the Sun and moving at a velocity of

15.341 km/s (34,320 mph)

relative to the star.

How fast is Voyager 1 and 2 traveling?

Both spacecraft have been traveling along different trajectories and at different speeds.

Voyager 1 is traveling faster, at a speed of about 17 kilometers per second (38,000 mph), compared to Voyager 2’s velocity of 15 kilometers per second (35,000 mph)

.

How long will it take Voyager 2 to travel a light year?

In some 296,000 years, Voyager 2 will pass

4.3 light-years

from Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Hmm, 4.3 light-years. That’s the distance between us and Alpha Centauri.

How does Voyager 2 travel so fast?

The two Voyager spacecraft do actually have some propulsion on board – though you’re right that these thrusters are not where the majority of their forward motion is coming from. That

outward speed comes from the combination of a high speed launch away from Earth, followed by a big gravitational slingshot past Jupiter

.

What has Voyager 2 discovered?

Voyager 2 discovered

10 new moons, two new rings, and a strangely tilted magnetic field stronger than that of Saturn

. A gravity assist at Uranus propelled the spacecraft toward its next destination, Neptune.

How long did Voyager 2 take to reach Neptune?

Voyager 2 traveled

12 years

at an average velocity of 19 kilometers a second (about 42,000 miles an hour) to reach Neptune, which is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. Voyager observed Neptune almost continuously from June to October 1989.

Will there be a Voyager 3?


A third Voyager mission was planned, and then canceled

. Apparently, Voyager 3 was cannibalized during construction: I am currently reading the book Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds In The Third Great Age Of Discovery by Stephen J. Pyne.

Will Voyager 1 ever leave the Milky Way?


By 500 million years from now, the solar system and the Voyagers alike will complete a full orbit through the Milky Way.

How much longer will Voyager last?

How long can Voyager 1 and 2 continue to function? Voyager 1 is expected to keep its current suite of science instruments on

through 2021

. Voyager 2 is expected to keep its current suite of science instruments on through 2020. The radioisotope thermoelectric generator on each spacecraft puts out 4 watts less each year.

How long would it take to get to Alpha Centauri at Warp 9?

Warp factor Calculated speed (c) Travel time from Earth to Alpha Centauri 8 512 3.09 days 9 729

52.07 hours
10 1000 37.96 hours 11 1331 28.52 hours

How fast is a light year in mph?

In a vacuum, light travels at

670,616,629 mph

(1,079,252,849 km/h). To find the distance of a light-year, you multiply this speed by the number of hours in a year (8,766). The result: One light-year equals 5,878,625,370,000 miles (9.5 trillion km).

How long would it take to get to Alpha Centauri at warp speed?

People are using that number as a benchmark of what they think is attainable, whether it’s with a solar sail or nuclear pulse propulsion. If we could achieve that speed, then we could get to Alpha Centauri in

just over 40 years

.

How far out is Voyager 2?

Currently Voyager 2 is about

11 billion miles

from the Earth, and has been traveling at speeds of tens of thousands of miles per hour since its launch in 1977.

How much did the Voyager 2 cost?

895 million USD

How Fast Is Parker Solar Probe?

430,000 mph

How cold is interstellar space?

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) The average temperature of outer space near Earth is 283.32 kelvins (10.17 degrees Celsius or 50.3 degrees Fahrenheit). In empty, interstellar space, the temperature is just

3 kelvins

, not much above absolute zero, which is the coldest anything can ever get.

How dark is interstellar space?

The brightness of the spaceship follows (almost) the inverse square law, meaning

twice the distance from the star, the brightness will be a quater

. In the middle of nowhere, but within a galaxy, it would look like in a moonless, and cloudless night, far away from any artificial light source.

How long did it take Voyager 2 to leave the solar system?

Although it took Voyager 1 about 28 days to cross the heliopause after leaving the sun’s bubble of influence, known as the heliosphere, it took Voyager 2

less than a day

to do so.

How long would it take to get to Pluto from Earth?

Using the simplest calculation – a straight line from Earth to Pluto, ignoring the motion of each planet, and driving at a steady 65 miles per hour – he figured it would take …

6,293 years

. “Of course, a 6,293-year-long road trip is not something you want to try with little kids.

Where is Pioneer 11 now 2019?

Pioneer 11 is still

sailing away from Earth

, even though its transmission was received on September 30, 1995. As far as scientists know, the spacecraft is still moving outward – in the general direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy – that is, generally in the direction of our constellation Sagittarius.

How long would it take to get to Triton moon?

At this time, Earth will align with Jupiter so that the spacecraft can use the gravitational pull of Jupiter as a slingshot. Trident would then arrive at Triton in 2038 for an extended

13-day

encounter. Scientists are calling this timing “a once-in-a-13-year window,” according to the statement.

Was there a voyager 6?

Background information. According to Star Trek Chronology,

Voyager 6 was launched in 1999

. According to Decker’s line in the movie, however, it was launched “more than 300 years ago”.

How big is interstellar space?

Interstellar space is defined as the space beyond a magnetic region that extends about

122 AU from the Sun

, as detected by Voyager 1, and the equivalent region of influence surrounding other stars.

How fast is Voyager 1 now 2021?

The duo completed this unprecedented “grand tour” in 1989, and then embarked on a new mission to investigate the outer reaches of the solar system and interstellar space. Voyager 1, which is zipping along at

38,000 mph (61,000 km/h)

, is currently 11.7 billion miles (18.8 billion kilometers) from Earth.

Will Voyager ever hit anything?


The probability of Voyager colliding with any matter any time soon is unknown, but likely small

. We have no way of detecting small outer solar system objects, because they are small and far away.

How far will Voyager 1 be in a billion years?

The Voyagers have enough electrical power and thruster fuel to keep its current suite of science instruments on until at least 2025. By that time, Voyager 1 will be about

13.8 billion miles

(22.1 billion kilometers) from the Sun and Voyager 2 will be 11.4 billion miles (18.4 billion kilometers) away.

Has anything left the Milky Way?


Voyager 1 becomes the first manmade object to leave the Solar System

, and in 40,000 years it will come within 1.7 light years of star AC+793888, before continuing on its millions-of-years journey to the core of the Milky Way.

David Evans
Author
David Evans
David is a seasoned automotive enthusiast. He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering and has a passion for all things related to cars and vehicles. With his extensive knowledge of cars and other vehicles, David is an authority in the industry.