all the science

The Housemate and I had a bit of a disagreement tonight on whether or not Voyager 1 escaping the heliosphere is worth being excited about. I say yea, she says nay.

She says that if we put energy into solving issues on earth, maybe we could actually solve some problems. Here. On Earth. 

Right, I said, but it would be even better if we could get all the people who think so much about pop culture & the VMAs to think about science instead. So then we could learn about space and solve some problems here on Earth.

All commentary aside, I'm pretty excited about Voyager. Just think of it: a tiny spacecraft nearly 12 billion miles away from earth, 36 years into a mission and still going strong. The first man-made object to leave the sun's sphere of influence (but not the solar system; feel free to fight that myth with fact, haha).

Isn't this pretty cool? (picture from Voyager 1)

or, y'know, just... pretty. oooh. (Voyager 2)


Some facts:

Launch

Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket. On September 5, Voyager 1 launched, also from Cape Canaveral aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket.

Planetary Tour

Between them, Voyager 1 and 2 explored all the giant planets of our outer solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; 48 of their moons; and the unique system of rings and magnetic fields those planets possess.

Closest approach to Jupiter occurred on March 5, 1979 for Voyager 1; July 9, 1979 for Voyager 2.

Closest approach to Saturn occurred on November 12, 1980 for Voyager 1; August 25, 1981 for Voyager 2.

Closest approach to Uranus occurred on January 24, 1986 by Voyager 2.

Closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989 by Voyager 2.

Most Distant Spacecraft

The Voyager spacecraft will be the third and fourth human spacecraft to fly beyond all the planets in our solar system. Pioneers 10 and 11 preceded Voyager in outstripping the gravitational attraction of the Sun but on February 17, 1998, Voyager 1 passed Pioneer 10 to become the most distant human-made object in space.

The Golden Record

Both Voyager spacecrafts carry a greeting to any form of life, should that be encountered. The message is carried by a phonograph record - -a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages.

Present Status

As of September 2013, Voyager 1 was at a distance of 18.7 billion kilometers (125.3 AU) from the Sun.

Voyager 2 was at a distance of 15.3 billion kilometers (102.6 AU).

Voyager 1 is escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.6 AU per year.
Voyager 2 is escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.3 AU per year.

There are currently five science investigation teams participating in the Interstellar Mission. They are:

1. Magnetic field investigation
2. Low energy charged particle investigation
3. Cosmic ray investigation
4. Plasma Investigation (Voyager 2 only)
5. Plasma wave investigation

Five instruments onboard the Voyagers directly support the five science investigations. The five instruments are:

1. Magnetic field instrument (MAG)
2. Low energy charged particle instrument (LECP)
3. Cosmic ray instrument (CRS)
4. Plasma instrument (PLS)
5. Plasma wave instrument (PWS)

One other instrument is collecting data but does not have official science investigation associated with it:

6. Ultraviolet spectrometer subsystem (UVS), Voyager 1 only

citation:
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/fastfacts.html



In other news, more science!

http://www.nature.com/news/insect-leg-cogs-a-first-in-animal-kingdom-1.13723