Note: For what it's worth...
Voyager 1's position is about 97 AU.
Those "billyions and billyins" of miles made me think it was further out.
Still, it did manage to get down the block a piece.
Almost to the City Limits!

Richard



http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-182

Recalculating the Distance to Interstellar Space
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 15, 2011

Scientists analyzing recent data from NASA's Voyager and Cassini
spacecraft have calculated that Voyager 1 could cross over into the
frontier of interstellar space at any time and much earlier than
previously thought. The findings are detailed in this week's issue of
the journal Nature.

Data from Voyager's low-energy charged particle instrument, first
reported in December 2010, have indicated that the outward speed of the
charged particles streaming from the sun has slowed to zero. The
stagnation of this solar wind has continued through at least February
2011, marking a thick, previously unpredicted "transition zone" at the
edge of our solar system.

"There is one time we are going to cross that frontier, and this is the
first sign it is upon us," said Tom Krimigis, prinicipal investigator
for Voyager's low-energy charged particle instrument and Cassini's
magnetospheric imaging instrument, based at the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

Krimigis and colleagues combined the new Voyager data with previously
unpublished measurements from the ion and neutral camera on Cassini's
magnetospheric imaging instrument. The Cassini instrument collects data
on neutral atoms streaming into our solar system from the outside.

The analysis indicates that the boundary between interstellar space and
the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself is likely
between 10 and 14 billion miles (16 to 23 billion kilometers) from the
sun, with a best estimate of approximately 11 billion miles (18 billion
kilometers). Since Voyager 1 is already nearly 11 billion miles (18
billion kilometers) out, it could cross into interstellar space at any time.

"These calculations show we're getting close, but how close? That's what
we don't know, but Voyager 1 speeds outward a billion miles every three
years, so we may not have long to wait," said Ed Stone, Voyager project
scientist, based at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Scientists intend to keep analyzing the Voyager 1 data, looking for
confirmation. They will also be studying the Voyager 2 data, but Voyager
2 is not as close to the edge of the solar system as Voyager 1. Voyager
2 is about 9 billion miles (14 billion kilometers) away from the sun.

Launched in 1977, the Voyager twin spacecraft have been on a 33-year
journey. They are humanity's farthest working deep space sentinels
enroute to reach the edge of interstellar space. The Voyagers were built
by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which continues
to operate both spacecraft. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA
Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division
of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is managed for
NASA by Caltech.

More information about Voyager is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov .
--

Richard Lamb
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavelamb
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~sv_temptress

On Jun 15, 7:53*pm, CaveLamb wrote:
Note: *For what it's worth...
Voyager 1's position is about 97 AU.
Those "billyions and billyins" of miles made me think it was further out.
Still, it did manage to get down the block a piece.
Almost to the City Limits!

Richard

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-182

Recalculating the Distance to Interstellar Space
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 15, 2011

Scientists analyzing recent data from NASA's Voyager and Cassini
spacecraft have calculated that Voyager 1 could cross over into the
frontier of interstellar space at any time and much earlier than
previously thought. The findings are detailed in this week's issue of
the journal Nature.

Data from Voyager's low-energy charged particle instrument, first
reported in December 2010, have indicated that the outward speed of the
charged particles streaming from the sun has slowed to zero. The
stagnation of this solar wind has continued through at least February
2011, marking a thick, previously unpredicted "transition zone" at the
edge of our solar system.

"There is one time we are going to cross that frontier, and this is the
first sign it is upon us," said Tom Krimigis, prinicipal investigator
for Voyager's low-energy charged particle instrument and Cassini's
magnetospheric imaging instrument, based at the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

Krimigis and colleagues combined the new Voyager data with previously
unpublished measurements from the ion and neutral camera on Cassini's
magnetospheric imaging instrument. The Cassini instrument collects data
on neutral atoms streaming into our solar system from the outside.

The analysis indicates that the boundary between interstellar space and
the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself is likely
between 10 and 14 billion miles (16 to 23 billion kilometers) from the
sun, with a best estimate of approximately 11 billion miles (18 billion
kilometers). Since Voyager 1 is already nearly 11 billion miles (18
billion kilometers) out, it could cross into interstellar space at any time.

"These calculations show we're getting close, but how close? That's what
we don't know, but Voyager 1 speeds outward a billion miles every three
years, so we may not have long to wait," said Ed Stone, Voyager project
scientist, based at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Scientists intend to keep analyzing the Voyager 1 data, looking for
confirmation. They will also be studying the Voyager 2 data, but Voyager
2 is not as close to the edge of the solar system as Voyager 1. Voyager
2 is about 9 billion miles (14 billion kilometers) away from the sun.

Launched in 1977, the Voyager twin spacecraft have been on a 33-year
journey. They are humanity's farthest working deep space sentinels
enroute to reach the edge of interstellar space. The Voyagers were built
by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which continues
to operate both spacecraft. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA
Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division
of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is managed for
NASA by Caltech.

More information about Voyager is available at:http://www.nasa.gov/voyagerandhttp:/...r.jpl.nasa.gov.
--

Richard Lambhttp://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavelambhttp://www.home.earthlink.net/~sv_temptress

The Voyager Program is one of the mankind's crowning achievements.

TMT

"CaveLamb" wrote in message
m...
Note: For what it's worth...
Voyager 1's position is about 97 AU.
Those "billyions and billyins" of miles made me think it was further out.
Still, it did manage to get down the block a piece.
Almost to the City Limits!

Richard


It's amazing that they are still working. That's a great testament
to the engineering and construction that went into them. Not having
any microsoft code aboard is probably a big factor too.
Art