Nasa's Voyager 2 Probe Inters Interstellar Space



[ad_1]

For the second time in history, a
Man-made object has reached the place among the stars. NASA's Voyager 2
The probe now exceeds the heliosphere – the protective bubble of particles and
Magnetic fields created by the sun.

Members of the NASA team directory will
Discuss the findings in a news conference at 11 am EST (8 am PST) today
The meeting of the United States Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington. The news conference
Will live near the website agency.

Comparing
Data from different instruments aboard the troubleshooting spacecraft, mission
Scientists determine the probe crosses the helmet's outer edge
Nov 5. This boundary, called the heliopoulos, is where the tenuka, hot solar
Wind meets the cold, dens interstarter device. His twins, Voyager
1
, crossed this boundary in 2012, but Voyager 2 carries a working
Instrument that will provide first-of-its-class observations of the nature of
The Gateway in Interstellar Place.

Voyager 2 now
Is slightly more than 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) of land.
Mission operators still can communicate with Voyager 2 as it enters the new one
Face of his travel, but information – moving at the speed of light – takes
About 16.5 hours to travel from the spacecraft to the ground. By comparison, light
Traveling from the sun takes eight minutes to reach the ground.

Mars 2020 Landing animation
Artist concept of Voyager 2 with 9 facts listed around him. Image credit: NASA

Larger view

Most
Existing evidence of Voyager 2's exit from the heliophord came from his onboard
Plasma Science Experiment (PLS),
An engineer who prohibited working on Voyager 1 in 1980, before the probe
crossed the heliopause. Until recently, the space surrounding Voyager 2 was
Filled primarily with plasma flowing out of our sun. This outflow is called
The solar wind, creates a bubble – the heliophore – that envelope the planets
In our solar system. The pls use the electrical current of the plasma to
Detect the speed, density, temperature, pressure and flux of the solar wind. The
Pls aboard Voyager 2 observed a steep decline in the speed of the solar wind
Particles on November 5. Since this day, the plasma instrument has noticed any
Solar wind runs in the environment around Voyager 2, which makes a mission
Scientists are certain that the probe left the heliophore.

"Working
On Voyager, we feel like an explorer, because everything we see is
New, "said John Richardson, chief investigator for the PLS instrument and a
Major Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at
Cambridge. "Although Voyager 1 crossed the Helioshouse in 2012, it did so at
A different location and a different time, and without the pls data. So we're gone
After seeing things that no one saw before. "

In addition
To the plasma date, Greater's science team members have seen evidence of three
Other onboard instruments – the cosmic beam sedition, the low energy charged
Particular instrument and magnetometer – which is consistent with these
Explanation that Voyager 2 has crossed the heliopause. Voyager's team members
Are very pleased to continue to study the data of the other onboard instruments
Get a clear picture of the environment through which Voyager 2 is traveling.

"It is
There is still a lot to learn about the area of ​​interstellar space
The heliopause, "said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist based in Kaltech in
Pasadena, California.

Together, these
Two Voyagers provide a detailed look at how our helloospheres interacts with
The constant intersteter wind flows from further. Their observations
Reach data from NASA's Interstellar Bundary Explorer (IBEX),
A mission that is remotely sensing that margin. NASA also prepares an additional one
Mission – The upcoming Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP),
Due to launch in 2024 – to capitalize on the readers' observations.

"Voyager has a
Their special place for us in our heliophysics fleet, "said Nikola Fox, director
From the Heliosphic Division in NASA Headquarters. "Our studies begin at the
Son and extend to everything the solar wind touches. To have the Voyager
Send back information about the Sun's Sun's influence on us
An unprecedented look of truly uncharted territory. "

While the
The relief left Helioferfer, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have not left
Solar system, and will not be any opportunity at any time. The boundary of the solar
System is considered to be beyond the outer edge of the Oost
Cloud
, A collection of small objects that are still under
Influence of the Son's Grave. The width of the oct
Cloud is not known precisely, but it is estimated to start at about 1,000
Astronomical Units (AU) of the Sun and to extend to about 100,000 AU. One AU
Is the distance from sun to earth. It will take about 300 years for travelers
2 to reach the inner edge of the East Cloud and possibly 30,000 years to fly
Next.

The Voyager
Soaps are powered by heat from the lack of radioactive material, contained
In a device called a radioisotope thermal generator (RTG).
The power output of the RTGS diminishes by about four watts per year, which
Means the various parts of the Voyager, including the cameras on both
Spacecraft, have turned over time to lead power.

"I think we are
All happy and relieved that the Voyager probes have both been operating long enough
To make it happen this milestone, "said Susan Dodd, Voyager project manager at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "That's it
We've all been waiting for. Now we look forward to what we will be able to
Learn from both soups outside the heliopolis. "

Voyager 2
Londonned in 1977, 16 days before Voyager 1, and both went well beyond
Very original destinations. The spacecraft were built to last five years
Conduct close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn. However, like these
Mission continued, after flash of the two outer giant planets, Uranus
And Neptune, perhaps possible. As the spacecraft flew across the solar system,
Remote control reprogramming is used to endorse the larger voyagers
Capabilities as they are provided when they left earth. Their two-planet mission
Became a four-planet mission. Their five-year lights have stretched to 41
Years, making Voyager 2 NASA's
Longest running mission.

The Voyager History has not only improved generations
Current and future scientists and engineers, but also earth's cultural,
Including film, art and music. Each spacecraft carries a golden record of land sounds, pictures and
Articles. Since the spacecraft could last billions of years, the round
Time capsules may only be the only traces of human civilization.

Voyager 's
Mission Controllers communicate with the probe using NASA's Deep Space Network
(DSN),
A global system for communicating with interplanetary spacecraft. The DSN
Consists of three clusters of antennas in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; And Canberra, Australia.

The Voyager
Interstellar mission is a part of NASA's Helio Physics System Observatory,
Sponsored by the Helios Physics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate
Washington. JPL built and operated the twin Voyager spacecraft. NASA's DSN,
Managed by JPL, is an international network of antennas that support
Interstellar spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations
For the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also
Supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. The Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organization, Australia's National Science Agency, operates
Both the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, part of the DSN, and the
Parks Observatory, which NASA is using Downlink data from Voyager 2
Since November 8.

For more information about
The Voyager mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/voyager

More information about NASA's
Heliophysics missions is available online at:

https://www.nasa.gov/sunearth

News media contact

Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
626-808-2469
[email protected]

Dwayne Brown / Karen Fox
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 301-286-6284
[email protected]/[email protected]

2018-283

[ad_2]
Source link