vladrichdemaclant
14194
348
2
Identified by:
https://amsat-dl.org/en/who-are-we/
1 AU = 8.31675 Light-Minutes
170 AU = 1413.8475 Light-Minutes
170 AU = 23.564125 Light-Hours
So Voyager 1 is almost 1 Light-Day away.
It was launched in 1977. It took 49 years to travel almost 1 light day.
It will take 17,836 years to travel 1 Light-Year.
What’s truly astonishing isn’t just how far Voyager 1 has gone, but that it still works at all. Built in the 1970s with less computing power than a calculator, powered by slowly dying plutonium, and never meant to last this long yet it continues to communicate from interstellar space. This isn’t just a spacecraft; it’s proof of how far human engineering can go.
Source: @MAstronomers
CrimeThinker
1 light year will still be less than 25% of the way to the nearest star to our sun. We're considering this interstellar because it's so far from our sun now, but it's still about 1,551 times closer to our star than any other.
cuprohastes
how far human engineering can go… when Elon's not involved.
duktayp
Carl Sagan had to fight to get NASA to turn Voyager around to take one last picture of Earth. This was back when Nerds were respected https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot
LespritDeLescalier22
That essay was life changing for me. Succinct and eye opening
duktayp
Context: 2024/2025 Anomalies: The probe successfully switched to a backup X-band transmitter in late 2024 after power issues. A brief pause in communication occurred in October 2024, but contact was recovered, demonstrating the aging, yet resilient nature of the probe.
CitrusyGarlic
Things are going to have to go super duper well for humanity for us to still be paying attention to where the Voyager probe is 17,000+ years from now
BeaverOnFire
Just be nice to the whales, and everything will be okay.
retepronnoco
We’ll be lucky to see spring the way shit’s going.
cousteau
1 light second = 186,000 mi (300,000 km)
1 light minute = 11,000,000 mi (18,000,000 km)
1 AU (Sun-Earth) = 93,000,000 mi (150,000,000 km)
1 light hour = 670,000,000 mi (1,000,000,000 km)
1 light day = 16,000,000,000 mi (26,000,000,000 km)
cousteau
1 light year = 6,,000,000,000,000 mi (9,,500,000,000,000 km)
Nearest star = 25,,000,000,000,000 mi (40,,000,000,000,000 km)
Nearest major galaxy = 15,000,000,,000,000,000,000 mi (24,000,000,,000,000,000,000 km)
Limit of observable universe = 270,000,000,000,,000,000,000,000 mi (440,000,000,000,,000,000,000,000 km)
(I used ,, for the trillion mark for convenience)
cousteau
For reference, The Proclaimers only walked just over 0.005 light-seconds.
Grimlinnan
Proxima Centauri just 76,000 years away, Voyager 1 keep on going.
DynamicMessOfJigglingThings
The Voyagers are in Interstellar space but still in the Solar system, and are trully incredible machines.
Jarjarthejedi
It's crazy that the Voyager probes are still working, a true testament to their engineering. It's also crazy how freaking BIG space is that they're a light DAY away after 50 years of travel at some of the highest speeds we've ever achieved and the nearest stars are several light YEARS out.
warpfactor1
And my microwave only lasted 6 years
DarwinsAgain
Good lord! The power cord must have been HUGE!
Gish99
I am absolutely fascinated that we can still communicate with it being so far out.
IMustGrowUpReally
I hope someone said "hello" back.
Nanntuckett
Communication is estimated to stop within the next 5-10 years, unfortunately. Amazing it’s lasted this long.
idrinkcheapbeer
2fligh2high
androgenoide
The power loss is not from the plutonium decay so much as aging of the thermoelectric generator.
cousteau
From what I could google, the plutonium isotope commonly used in spacecraft has a half-life of some 88 years, so the power loss due to that alone must have been somewhere around 32%… which is not a lot, but not negligible either.
cousteau
(far from the overall 5x drop from the initial 25W to the current 5W someone else mentioned in the comments, but certainly a factor to take into account)
deechill
https://youtu.be/M62kajY-ln0?si=ggqzD6Jzg889lpqL
duktayp
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/where-are-voyager-1-and-voyager-2-now/
TheBlueMuppet
I hope it just says "space."
sirbartonslady
NASA's got too many nerds to do something like that, but if you don't speak their jargon.... that's basically what it says, in very fancy astronomical language LMAO
TheBlueMuppet
XD Very true
JarJarDrinks
It is sending signals at just 5 watts. The strength of a single Christmas tree light bulb.
joshuasplinth
It boggles my mind that a signal that weak can make it through all that distance with all the intervening shit, and still be detected as meaningful data. I guess if we can still see the CMB, V-ger's signal probably seems bright comparatively?
androgenoide
It was a 25 watt transmitter originally.
TheBlueMuppet
20 watts just fell off!
Nanowave
Its not supposed to do that, bad for the environment.
NCPBullet
Its outside the environment now
deechill
We’re sending our trash in interstellar dumps now
taez555
BreakfastWithCountChocula
V-Ger was Voyager 6.
ExTechOp
Then again, how manyeth time is this that Voyager 1 has left the solar system?
https://xkcd.com/1189/ https">om/1189/">https://xkcd.com/1189/ https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/voyager_1.png
CitrusyGarlic
Dumbest, most human moment in all of Sci-Fi, that the writer, director, producer etc all thought an advanced race of computer beings couldn't think to clean off a nameplate to be able to fully see what the name was. Also how do things get sooty in space? Why wouldn't the entire name be obscured if they can? I love Trek but this is D-U-M dumb on so many levels
welluhwhatdoyouwantmetosay
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in comets. With Voyager taking about 18,000 years/light year, it may become the core of a comet. That said, not wiping down the name plate is dumb.
taez555
Best not to overthink it. :-)
CitrusyGarlic
I don't bother the creators with this, just you taez
taez555
:-)
duktayp
.....actually, these questions are answered in "Project Hail Mary" ... no spoilers, read the book or wait for the movie coming out soon
CitrusyGarlic
The question of whether or not something can get sooty in space? Even if it can Project Hail Mary isn't going to address the magical reason why such an advanced intelligence couldn't think to clean off a nameplate before it deduced what the name was
duktayp
Read the book
CitrusyGarlic
Great, so I can get one single author's opinion who might be just as wrong as the people who wrote ST:TMP?
theworldcouldbeflat
They mentioned it fused with another probe and fixed itself wrong.
CitrusyGarlic
Look at the frame from the movie that was just used! The *nameplate* wasn't damaged, it wasn't fused into anything, it was just dirty, and in 1979 human thinking, only humans would think to wipe the soot off of the nameplate.
And that's ridiculous
theworldcouldbeflat
It's about acknowledging 5th dimensional limitations on the 3rd dimensional plane.
CitrusyGarlic
Oh ok, it's about Nonsense Answer Du Jour, I understand now