AGU: Voyager Spacecraft Might Not Have Reached Interstellar Space, AGU “In 2012, the Voyager mission team announced that the Voyager 1 spacecraft had passed into interstellar space, traveling further from Earth than any other manmade object. But, in the nearly two years since that historic announcement, and despite subsequent observations backing it up, uncertainty about whether Voyager 1 really crossed the threshold continues. There are some scientists who say that […]

“Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft duet” was played at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner this evening. “GÉANT, the pan-European data network serving 50 million research and education users at speeds of up to 500Gbps, demonstrates its power by sonifying 36 years’ worth of NASA Voyager spacecraft data and converting it into a musical duet.”

Keith’s 11 Sep 7:00 pm EDT note: Looks like NASA will admit on Thursday that Voyager 1 has indeed left our solar system, but that it did so more than a year ago. NASA prefers Yes/No answers i.e. has it or has it not crossed that imaginary dotted line that is in place around the edge of our solar system. The press event will be at 2:00 pm EDT. NASA […]

Voyager 1 Has Left the Solar System, Says New Study, University of Maryland “Voyager 1 appears to have at long last left our solar system and entered interstellar space, says a University of Maryland-led team of researchers. Carrying Earthly greetings on a gold plated phonograph record and still-operational scientific instruments – including the Low Energy Charged Particle detector designed, built and overseen, in part, by UMD’s Space Physics Group – […]

Voyagers in the Heliosheath [Download Larger Version], NASA “This artist’s concept shows NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft exploring a turbulent region of space known as the heliosheath, the outer shell of the bubble of charged particles around our sun. After more than 35 years of travel, the two Voyager spacecraft will soon reach interstellar space, which is the space between stars.”

AGU: Voyager 1 has left the solar system, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate “In the GRL article, the authors state: “It appears that [Voyager 1] has exited the main solar modulation region, revealing [hydrogen] and [helium] spectra characteristic of those to be expected in the local interstellar medium.” However, Webber notes, scientists are continuing to debate whether Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space or entered a separate, undefined region […]

@NASAVoyager2 END MAYACAL BTUN 12.19.19.17.19 SHUTDOWN:UNIV(12) BEGIN BTUN 13.0.0.0.0 BOOT:UNIV(13)

More evidence that Voyager has exited the solar system, Houston Chronicle “New data from the spacecraft, which I will discuss below, indicate Voyager 1 may have exited the solar system for good. If true, this would mark a truly historic moment for the human race — sending a spacecraft beyond the edge of our home solar system.” Voyager Recent 6 Hour History Voyage Cosmic Ray Subsystem (Data Graphic)

Voyager 1 achievements not unlike Magellan travels, moon landing, Huntsville Times “The science is dazzling enough: the discoveries made and the measurements gauged by Voyager 1 as it hurtles toward the outer reaches of the Milky Way. But to Gary Zank, this is more than mere science.” “… What makes Voyager 1 unique, however, is that it is approaching the edge of the Milky Way. It’s possible it could leave […]

Keith’s note: NASA JPL Employee @doug_ellison recently tweeted “Based on some MIPS benchmarks, and the RAD750 cpu on MSL…my iPhone 4S is 12x more powerful than Curiosity.” Gee … NASA is always bragging about all of the advanced gizmos they have (justifiably) – but they never talk about how outdated some of their things are – and why. Among other things, the reasons why old stuff is used have to […]