Question for those of you interested in space exploration

[Decadence]

I was reading about the Voyager Program today and it got me thinking. Which man-made object is furthest away from the Earth right now? Has something we built reached the edge of the solar system yet? I know nothing about how far and how fast something would have to travel to reach the edge of the solar system...anyway, does anyone know the answer?

[Dancook]

I assumed a space time capsule would be furthest away, so found info about these two.


Voyager Golden Record - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Voyager Golden Record is a phonograph record included in the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. It contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. It is intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or far future humans, that may find it. The Voyager spacecraft are not heading towards any particular star, but in about 40,000 years Voyager 1 will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Ophiuchus constellation.[1]

Pioneer plaque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pioneer plaques are a pair of gold anodized aluminum plaques which were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, featuring a pictorial message, in case either Pioneer 10 or 11 are intercepted by extraterrestrial beings. The plaques show the nude figures of a human male and female along with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft.
The Pioneer spacecrafts were the first human-built objects to leave the solar system. The plaque is attached to the antenna support struts in a position that shields it from erosion by stellar dust.

My space friend tells me "Voyager 1 and 2 are speeding at the edge of the heliosphere"

Voyager program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mattrixdesign2]

Originally Posted by Decadence

I was reading about the Voyager Program today and it got me thinking. Which man-made object is furthest away from the Earth right now? Has something we built reached the edge of the solar system yet? I know nothing about how far and how fast something would have to travel to reach the edge of the solar system...anyway, does anyone know the answer?

I think it is one the Voyagers...

[PJTX100]

I thought Vger had been returned to Earth, I think I saw it in a Star Trek movie.

[Dancook]

Originally Posted by mattrixdesign2

I think it is one the Voyagers...

Voyager 1 is winning the race!

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by Dancook

Voyager 1 is winning the race!

Lets hope the borg don't intercept

[shodan]

I can imagine them being found by aliens who don't really look at them and just presume they are more space junk satellites from that funny blue planet...

[Dancook]

Originally Posted by shodan

I can imagine them being found by aliens who don't really look at them and just presume they are more space junk satellites from that funny blue planet...

Maybe the raised 'waved' hand on the disc sent, actually means 'WAR' to them

[BMAN07]

Originally Posted by Dancook

Maybe the raised 'waved' hand on the disc sent, actually means 'WAR' to them

Now that would be funny.

[Decadence]

So Voyager 1 has gone miles past Pluto? That's amazing!

[GasDad]

Originally Posted by Decadence

So Voyager 1 has gone miles past Pluto? That's amazing!

But when it went 'past' Pluto - it still had to go 'past' Neptune - which at the time was further from the sun that Pluto.

For From http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/fastfacts.html

[Decadence]

Originally Posted by GasDad

But when it went 'past' Pluto - it still had to go 'past' Neptune - which at the time was further from the sun that Pluto.

For From Voyager - Fast Facts

I can't get my head around that info.

[Dancook]

Originally Posted by Decadence

I can't get my head around that info.

see image attached, the orbits cross


to answer the next question??

The Question
(Submitted March 26, 1997)

Pluto's orbit crosses that of Neptune's, on what date will they eventually collide?


The Answer
Pluto "crossed" Neptune's orbit on January 21, 1979, and temporarily became the 8th planet from the sun. It will cross Neptune's orbit again on Feb. 11, 1999 to resume its place as the ninth planet from the Sun for the next 228 years.
Despite the fact that Pluto and Neptune temporarily change places in their distance from the Sun, they will never collide. This is due to two reasons: First, Pluto's orbit is inclined to the ecliptic. by 17 degrees. (To see an illustration of this, take a look at http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/overview.html.) So even though we say their orbits "cross", Pluto is actually quite a distance "above"Neptune. Secondly, Pluto orbits the Sun twice for every three orbits of Neptune. The two planets are said to be in a "resonance orbit". For such orbits, the two bodies never get close to each other. In fact, the closest the two planets come to each other is 2 billion kilometers.

[Decadence]

that's great, thanks.

[Earthworm Jim]

Originally Posted by Decadence

I was reading about the Voyager Program today and it got me thinking. Which man-made object is furthest away from the Earth right now? Has something we built reached the edge of the solar system yet? I know nothing about how far and how fast something would have to travel to reach the edge of the solar system...anyway, does anyone know the answer?

Why its the Enterprise of course