The Voyagers.

[barkis]

It's an incredible story the journey these two craft are on. Goes without saying so of course,
but I understand both vehicle are beyond the Heliopause.
V1 is apparently 14 Billion miles from Earth, and V2 11 Billion.
probably being bombarded will all sorts of exotic particles.

These two human creations gave us a first close of the Solar Systems Giant gas planets, and how great was that?
The first encounter with another star is expected in about 40,000 years.
Another wonder, is the communication  we still receive, a result of the Nuclear fuel supplying
the energy to broadcast the signals down to Earth, although the engineers have to have much patience in waiting for these.

It just seems fair we continue to acknowledge these two small craft, as they are a credit to those who built them
and monitored their journey out of the Solar System.
Perhaps some time way in the future, they will be examined by another species,

and some form of contact will be forthcoming. A bit science fiction perhaps, but at least the bulk of this is very real.
God Speed you two tiny adventurers.
Ron.

[Paul M]

Maybe, in the long distant future, the Voyagers will reappear in Earth orbit; a label on each saying "return to sender" and an explanatory note informing that, under intergalactic WEE regulations, we are required to recycle our own junk..

Edited February 16, 2020 by Paul M

[Barry-W-Fenner]

They really have achieved so much. Incredible to think that if they make to to the next nearest star it will be in 40k years time. These distances are truly incomprehensible to try and get your head around. Keep going little fella!

Excuse my ignorance but how much further until they reach the oort cloud?

 

[Alien 13]

I believe the voyager is mans greatest achievement in space exploration but would be interested in which star they will meet first and if us humans will be waiting to greet them?

Alan

[Paul M]

5 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

I believe the voyager is mans greatest achievement in space exploration

I agree, although I suspect that one has to be of a certain age to agree!

I've said before that they were my era. I know luck played a certain role in the Grand Tour geometries but still, what a good job they made of it. I was mesmerised by the images of the Galilean Moons of Jupiter. I had seen those already with my own eyes through my 60mm refractor and I knew them.

 

[barkis]

32 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

They really have achieved so much. Incredible to think that if they make to to the next nearest star it will be in 40k years time. These distances are truly incomprehensible to try and get your head around. Keep going little fella!

Excuse my ignorance but how much further until they reach the oort cloud?

 

Unknown methinks Barry, rough estimates vary between 5,000, and 100,000 Au's.

[barkis]

1 hour ago, Paul M said:

Maybe, in the long distant future, the Voyagers will reappear in Earth orbit; a label on each saying "return to sender" and an explanatory note informing that, under intergalactic WEE regulations, we are required to recycle our own junk..

Wouldn't surprise me Paul. Fly tipping could well be an Inter Galactic Nuisance .

[Mark at Beaufort]

Ron I was fortunate to meet Dr Thomas Paine - Head of NASA in early 1970 when he gave a lecture at the Royal Society. Part of his talk mentioned the 'Grand Tour' of the outer Planets which was still in the planning stage.

The attached shows the proposal from the early 1970s which clearly was changed. Interesting to look back and then admire what was achieved all these years later.

[barkis]

24 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Ron I was fortunate to meet Dr Thomas Paine - Head of NASA in early 1970 when he gave a lecture at the Royal Society. Part of his talk mentioned the 'Grand Tour' of the outer Planets which was still in the planning stage.

The attached shows the proposal from the early 1970s which clearly was changed. Interesting to look back and then admire what was achieved all these years later.

That planetary alignment  fortunately  encouraged the plan  to  make that journey Mark.  They planned it well, but success could not be guaranteed. However, history has proved the attempt was well worth it. Thanks for your input here, that very early description of the route is  historical.

Ron.

Edited February 16, 2020 by barkis

[tomato]

If I have my sums correct, it is sobering to think Voyager 1 has so far only travelled 0.2% of a light year.

Still, they may be the only enduring artefact of human civilisation, assuming they can outlast the earth, they only have to avoid major impacts for another 6 billion years...

[maw lod qan]

On 16/02/2020 at 12:27, barkis said:

I
Perhaps some time way in the future, they will be examined by another species,

and some form of contact will be forthcoming. A bit science fiction perhaps, but at least the bulk of this is very real.
God Speed you two tiny adventurers.
Ron.

I prefer to believe there is really no such thing as science fiction.

As a young child I grew up dreaming of the Space Plane they talked about, only to see it come and go.

Buck Rogers and the Thunder Birds, look what E. Musk is doing now.

Most of us wont be around, but what will change in the coming decades would probably make all of us dreamers and believers smile.

And yes, keep traveling you two incredible machines!!

[barkis]

3 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

I prefer to believe there is really no such thing as science fiction.

As a young child I grew up dreaming of the Space Plane they talked about, only to see it come and go.

Buck Rogers and the Thunder Birds, look what E. Musk is doing now.

Most of us wont be around, but what will change in the coming decades would probably make all of us dreamers and believers smile.

And yes, keep traveling you two incredible machines!!

I understand what you say, I too read a lot of books on what in those days can only be described as fiction, however, our deepest hopes were that in the future, some of what we avidly read, would actually materialise.

My remark about a possible intervention by an interstellar intelligence, may perhaps occur, however, the Voyagers are light years short of any possible encounter. Sadly you and I will be ancient dust on a planet that  may already devoured by it's mother star, along with others of her family. Now this last part isn't fiction, but distinct reality😉.

Ron

[Paul M]

I think that much of our appreciation of the Falcon 9 dual booster landings is that it is pure Thunderbirds. A bit of out childhood coming to life. No longer science fiction!

The Voyagers, well, they are not even started yet. In some millions of years they'll tell their story, I'm sure.