Voyager I and II

[Beyond]

Ok, have they really, finally, absolutely, positively, for sure, finally made up their mind that V'ger left the solar system over a year ago, and it's absolutely positively OFFICIAL

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[b][color=#0000FF]This graphic shows the main evidence that Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space. The blue line shows particle density, which dropped as Voyager 1 moved away from the sun, and then jumped again after it crossed the “termination shock” that is where the sun’s solar wind (particles streaming from the sun) slows down. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech [/color][/b]

---

Ok, have they really, finally, absolutely, positively, for sure, finally made up their mind that V'ger left the solar system over a year ago, and it's absolutely positively OFFICIAL

The Voyager 1 is about 125 AU from the Sun as of August 2013

1) Escape Velocity from the Sun is still ~8,500 mph

2) Voyager I can still hear the Sun's echoing scream

3) <<The scattered disc is a distant region of the Solar System that is sparsely populated by icy minor planets. The scattered-disc objects (SDOs) have orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8, inclinations as high as 40°, and perihelia greater than 30 astronomical units.
Their orbits can extend well beyond 100 AU.
This makes scattered objects "among the most distant and cold objects in the Solar System">>

4) The Interstellar medium plasma will continue to have an enhanced density peaking at about 400AU

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]This radio image of Voyager 1, captured by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) on Feb. 21, was released to celebrate Voyager 1 entering the ISM.[/color][/b]

---

Voyager 1's Glow Glimmers in Interstellar Space
by Ian O'Neill, Discovery, Sep 16, 2013

<<One of the most iconic photographs in spaceflight history is that of Earth, seen from a distance of 4 billion miles by the outward bound Voyager 1 spacecraft. The 1990 “Pale Blue Dot” gave the world a profound realization that everybody — from all human history that has ever existed — lived on that one tiny speck in the distance, as legendary science communicator Carl Sagan remarked at the time. Now, 23 years later, a photograph of another “pale blue dot” has been released by NASA — the faint signal from Voyager 1′s radio transmitter reaching us from interstellar space after traveling 11.5 billion miles from Earth.

Last week, NASA confirmed that Voyager 1 had officially left the solar system’s heliosphere, escaping from the heliopause and entered interstellar space, the first man made object to leave the sun’s domain. Therefore, this pale blue radio speck is the first man made radio signal ever to be received from interstellar space. According to NASA, the signal being generated by Voyager 1 is very weak. The spacecraft’s main radio transmitter generates just 22 watts — the approximate radiated power of a refrigerator light bulb. But to a huge radio array like the VLBA, Voyager 1′s signal is easily detectable as a faint radio glimmer in the darkness of the interstellar ocean.

“They were able to see a blue speck,” Suzanne Dodd, Voyager’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said during a news conference Thursday. “And this image represents the Voyager radio signal as seen by the world’s most sensitive ground-based telescope. It’s just a speck in amongst a sea of darkness.”

It is estimated that Voyager 1′s dwindling power supply — generated by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) — will only allow for the spacecraft’s science instruments to be powered up until 2020 and then by 2030, the mission will go silent and Voyager 1′s faint radio glimmer will be extinguished for good.>>

[Beyond]

Quick, answer the phone. It's us calling.

[neufer]

Quick, answer the phone. It's us calling.

What if it's a collect call

[Beyond]

All the Voyager calls are 'collect' calls, to give us the information they've 'collected'.

[saturno2]

Voyager 2 and New Horizons have similar speed around 15 km/sec
( aprox.) respect to the Sun

[bystander]

Voyager: A Tribute
Planetary Society | Stephen J. Pyne | 2013 Sep 25

[saturno2]

This article ( by Stephen J. Pyne ) is very interesting
My vote is also for Voyager

[wonderboy]

[b][color=#0000FF]This radio image of Voyager 1, captured by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) on Feb. 21, was released to celebrate Voyager 1 entering the ISM.[/color][/b]

---

Voyager 1's Glow Glimmers in Interstellar Space
by Ian O'Neill, Discovery, Sep 16, 2013

<<One of the most iconic photographs in spaceflight history is that of Earth, seen from a distance of 4 billion miles by the outward bound Voyager 1 spacecraft. The 1990 “Pale Blue Dot” gave the world a profound realization that everybody — from all human history that has ever existed — lived on that one tiny speck in the distance, as legendary science communicator Carl Sagan remarked at the time. Now, 23 years later, a photograph of another “pale blue dot” has been released by NASA — the faint signal from Voyager 1′s radio transmitter reaching us from interstellar space after traveling 11.5 billion miles from Earth.

Last week, NASA confirmed that Voyager 1 had officially left the solar system’s heliosphere, escaping from the heliopause and entered interstellar space, the first man made object to leave the sun’s domain. Therefore, this pale blue radio speck is the first man made radio signal ever to be received from interstellar space. According to NASA, the signal being generated by Voyager 1 is very weak. The spacecraft’s main radio transmitter generates just 22 watts — the approximate radiated power of a refrigerator light bulb. But to a huge radio array like the VLBA, Voyager 1′s signal is easily detectable as a faint radio glimmer in the darkness of the interstellar ocean.

“They were able to see a blue speck,” Suzanne Dodd, Voyager’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said during a news conference Thursday. “And this image represents the Voyager radio signal as seen by the world’s most sensitive ground-based telescope. It’s just a speck in amongst a sea of darkness.”

It is estimated that Voyager 1′s dwindling power supply — generated by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) — will only allow for the spacecraft’s science instruments to be powered up until 2020 and then by 2030, the mission will go silent and Voyager 1′s faint radio glimmer will be extinguished for good.>>

Out of interest, how big is this blue spec in real terms, compared to the earth. obviously its a radio wave travelling towards earth, i imaging that the waves get bigger and the blue spec larger the further away voyager gets? so if this beam were to hit earth would it take up a small amount of earths surface or a large part due to the distance travelled? theres a reason im asking!

[neufer]

Out of interest, how big is this blue spec in real terms, compared to the earth. obviously its a radio wave travelling towards earth, i imaging that the waves get bigger and the blue spec larger the further away voyager gets? so if this beam were to hit earth would it take up a small amount of earths surface or a large part due to the distance travelled? theres a reason im asking!

This blue spec image represents the resolution of a point source
(i.e., Voyager's 3.66m High Gain Antenna at a distance 125 AU)
by the very high resolution Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).

The expanding Voyager radio wave that you are contemplating (not pictured ) involves the much lower resolution (by 4 orders of magnitude ) of Voyager's High Gain Antenna, itself, or ~ 1º (= about a 2 AU wide radio beam by the time the signal reaches Earth).

[wonderboy]

what if similar signals were being beamed to us from faaaaaaaaaaar away. would the beam not be so wide as to be undetectable?

[neufer]

what if similar signals were being beamed to us from faaaaaaaaaaar away.
would the beam not be so wide as to be undetectable?

Yes...which is one reason that NASA is experimenting with laser communication.

[b][color=#0000FF]Space probe design concept using optical rather than radio communication[/color][/b]

---

<<In outer space, the communication range of free-space optical communication is currently of the order of several thousand kilometers, but has the potential to bridge interplanetary distances of millions of kilometers, using optical telescopes as beam expanders. In January 2013, NASA used lasers to beam an image of the Mona Lisa to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter roughly 240,000 miles away. To compensate for atmospheric interference, error correction code algorithm similar to that used in CDs was implemented. The distance records for optical communications involved detection and emission of laser light by space probes. A two-way distance record for communication was set by the Mercury laser altimeter instrument aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft. This infrared diode neodymium laser, designed as a laser altimeter for a Mercury orbit mission, was able to communicate across a distance of 15 million miles (24 million km), as the craft neared Earth on a fly-by in May, 2005. The previous record had been set with a one-way detection of laser light from Earth, by the Galileo probe, as two ground-based lasers were seen from 6 million km by the out-bound probe, in 1992.

Secure free-space optical communications have been proposed using a laser N-slit interferometer where the laser signal takes the form of an interferometric pattern. Any attempt to intercept the signal causes the collapse of the interferometric pattern. This technique has been demonstrated to work over propagation distances of practical interest and, in principle, it could be applied over large distances in space.>>

[makc]

aliens will not able to crack these error correction codes, probably

[saturno2]

In the gold disks of Voyagers, there is a greeting in Esperanto language:
" Ni strebas
vivi en paco
kun la popoloj
de la tuta mondo,
de la tuta kosmo"
We strive
to live in peace
with people around the world
of entire cosmos
This a beautiful thought and a hope for the future

[geckzilla]

It would amuse me if aliens with no concept of war and therefore no concept of peace discovered the Voyager disc or any kind of message such as "we come in peace"

They wouldn't understand the word without an explanation of what war is first. I think I'd avoid the humans after such an explanation.

[makc]

I think you're exaggerating. In the world where animals kill and eat each other (or other living beings such as plants) 24/7, it is highly illogical to expect any advanced species to have no concept of war. Okay, aliens could be unlike our animals and more like plants. But then, just sitting there doing nothing and getting energy from their star is not great source of evolutionary pressure towrds intelligence. It did not work for our plants. They never became sentient. And they had way more time than apes.

[geckzilla]

I'm not exaggerating, just speculating. I don't know how any technological civilization could evolve without the concept of war or conflict but I don't think it's too hard to also speculate the possibility. You have to detach yourself from Earth evolution, though.

[makc]

Earth evolution is nothing special. If you remember this wonderful site, there are some examples of evolution having little to do with Earth life: http://wonderfl.net/tag/genetic Or check this guy who simulated evolving clocks in matlab:

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

To the point, the key mechanism - selection - means killing off losers. Which entails competition in order for it to happen naturally. Unless there is God who breeds intelligent aliens on purpose.

[Beyond]

First, kill the muzak
Second, run it 20% slower so i can read most of it.
Third, BIG DEAL A computer simulation of something that clock parts cannot do.
Fourth, maybe I'm a bit grumpy because it's midnight.

[geckzilla]

Earth evolution is nothing special.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. It's our only example. A sample size of one isn't much to go on. Weird things happen with your research if your sample is too restricted.

[makc]

so I read you article and see nothing weird? basically only arseholes would "sacrifice money to punish someone who had the good luck of getting to play the other role in the game" so I actually think USA results are weird. but maybe you guys are just too rich for 50 bucks to matter, and would judge better given few more zeroes.

[Indigo_Sunrise]

makc, if you read the article, you'd know that's exactly what it was saying: USA results are weird - the weirdest of the weird, in fact. But I will go out on a limb and say that I bet even 50 bucks matters to many of us here.

And very interesting article, geckzilla. Thanks for sharing.

[makc]

Oh I was under impression that the article said those non-american people he tested were weird.

[saturno2]

Speed of Voyager 2 now
Aprox. 14.8 - 15 Km/sec ( Relative to Sun)