nearly 19 billion miles from the sun, Voyager 1 was long the object constructed by humans who had come farther. Now, officially became the first to exceed the limits of the solar system. The American space probe, which continues to send data back to Earth, came in interstellar space.
Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. A few days earlier, on 20 August, was Voyager 2. The mission was to observe the outer solar system. The first should fly over Jupiter and Saturn (which it did in 1979 and 1980). The second addition to the large gas giants of the solar system and the ringed planet, would fly Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989). And move on.
there are more than 36 years in space and the expectation was that Voyager 1 beyond the limits of the solar system in 2015. On Thursday, an article published in the journal Science , a team of NASA scientists accompanying the mission revealed that the spacecraft crossed the heliopause and came to the “pit of interstellar space” on 25 August 2012.
“I do not know if this is in the same league as landing on the moon, but it’s right up there – equipment Star Trek , for sure,” illustrates Donald A. Gurnett, an author of the article, quoted by The New York Times . “I mean, consider the distance [19 billion kilometers from the Sun]. It is difficult for scientists to understand, “said the professor of physics at the University of Iowa.
At 77, Edward C. Stone is, for NASA, the largest specialist Voyager missions. The scientist working on this project since 1972 and is living the moment with enthusiasm. More than that, already looking through the open door to new discoveries. “This is historic, a bit like the first exploration of the Earth,” said, quoted by the same American newspaper.
last year was intense debate. NASA scientists have had to evaluate the data sent by Voyager 1 with “very, very careful” – says Stone – by mission leaders to reach a consensus on whether the probe would reach interstellar space. Finally agreed that indeed had happened sooner than expected.
ultimate proof came in April and May, when they came to Earth recordings sound vibrations picked up by the plasma wave antenna probe. Calculated plasma density around the ship, ended up uncertainties. “It was exactly what we expected interstellar plasma,” said Gurnett. Then compared the data with those of summer 2012.
Rock n ‘roll for Aliens
features that Voyager 1 has to collect information are obsolete and NASA itself has trouble finding anyone, from the earth, can take best use of the available material. On board there is an eight-track recorder and computers with little memory as a digital native does not know how to use it.
But the probe also takes some timeless objects. This is the case of Fifth Symphony Beethoven or Johnny B. Goode , Chuck Berry. Or the sounds of thunder, volcanoes and earthquakes, hyenas and elephants, wind, rain, laughing.
For this mission, NASA decided to be more ambitious in the messages sent to space in the event of probes intersect in the future with intelligent extraterrestrial life. Until then, the ships carried a sign with the place and year of origin. In 1977, the Voyager took paraphernalia pictures, sounds, music and messages in 55 languages ??- including the U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then secretary-general of the UN, the Austrian Kurt Waldheim. The selection was made by a committee headed by Carl Sagan.
If ever the analog discs (which are provided with instructions for symbols) come to be touched, to 16-2/3 revolutions per minute, we’ll never know. At least by our own means. This is because the Voyager 1 should lose the ability to send information to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by 2025 and the probe should only cross with a planet in 40,000 years. More or less. Incidentally, the probe can still send data – which take 17 hours to reach Earth, due to the distance – to be saving energy since 1990.
this year, took his last photograph: a family portrait of the solar system. It was the end of a career that has given human beings unseen images of Jupiter and Saturn. Some days, the University College London released in a mosaic of high resolution photographs of Jupiter’s moons. Other images taken by Voyager 1 can be seen in site that NASA is dedicated to the mission.
A decade before the photos were ended in 1980, as the measuring instrument energy particles in the plasma had crashed. Left sensor which concluded the historic event that scientists now celebrate. When a solar flare again shake the antenna, Voyager 1 will again send a message to Earth via its transmitter of 23 watts.
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