But farther—much farther—Voyager 1, one of the oldest space probes
Is Voyager 2 still transmitting?
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.
Can Voyager still send pictures?
There will be no more pictures
; engineers turned off the spacecraft’s cameras, to save memory, in 1990, after Voyager 1 snapped the famous image of Earth as a “pale blue dot” in the darkness. Out there in interstellar space
Are Voyager 1 and 2 still transmitting?
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are still functioning today
, making them the longest-running and most-distant space mission in history. Though they are each taking different paths, both spacecraft are still screaming their way out of the solar system.
Is Voyager 2 still transmitting pictures?
From beyond the heliosphere
Where is Voyager one now?
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is currently
over 14.1 billion miles from Earth
. It’s moving at a speed of approximately 38,000 miles per hour and not long ago passed through our solar system’s boundary with interstellar space
How long will Voyager 1 battery 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 will it take Voyager 1 to reach Proxima Centauri?
This boundary is roughly about halfway to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri. Traveling at speeds of over 35,000 miles per hour, it will take the Voyagers
nearly 40,000 years
, and they will have traveled a distance of about two light years to reach this rather indistinct boundary.
How far in space have we gone?
The record for the farthest distance that humans have traveled goes to the all-American crew of famous Apollo 13 who were 400,171 kilometers (
248,655 miles
) away from Earth on April 14, 1970. This record has stood untouched for over 50 years!
How long does it take to get a signal from Voyager 2?
(Voyager 2’s twin, Voyager 1, is able to communicate with the other two stations.) A round-trip communication with Voyager 2 takes about 35 hours —
17 hours and 35 minutes each way
.
How far can Voyager 1 go before we lose contact?
Voyager 1’s extended mission is expected to continue until around 2025 when its radioisotope thermoelectric generators will no longer supply enough electric power to operate its scientific instruments. At that time, it will be more
than 15.5 billion miles
(25 billion km) away from the Earth.
What is the farthest picture taken in space?
Pale Blue Dot
is a photograph of planet Earth taken on February 14, 1990, by the Voyager 1 space probe
What has Voyager 1 found?
Voyager 1 is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. Voyager 1 discovered
a thin ring around Jupiter and two new Jovian moons
: Thebe and Metis. At Saturn, Voyager 1 found five new moons and a new ring called the G-ring.
How far is Voyager in light years?
In about 40,000 years, Voyager 2 will pass
1.7 light-years
(9.7 trillion miles) from the star Ross 248 and in about 296,000 years, it will pass 4.3 light-years (25 trillion miles) from Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
What powers does Voyager have?
They rely on
radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG)
for their energy. Each of the Voyager probes has three RTGs, and they use plutonium 238 for their fuel source. As that isotope decays, it produces heat which is converted to electrical energy.
What was the last picture Voyager 1 took?
The probe took
the Pale Blue Dot photo at 0448 GMT on Feb. 14, 1990
, just 34 minutes before its cameras were shut off forever. (The very last photos Voyager 1 took, however, were of the sun, Hansen said.)
