Current Connection: NASA Voyager 1
NASA,
the worlds most prestige organization, says in their latest article on Fox
News, “Voyager1 probe has left the solar system” and gives the details of the spacecraft and
how it has now fled the sun’s influence.
It has now been 36 years since this small
spacecraft, Voyager 1, left earth and headed into space. 36 years from departure, leaving earth, it is just now heading out
of our solar system, traveling at 11 ½ billion miles away from earth. The space
ship is small, described by NASA as, "the little spacecraft that
could," it is said to be the size of a small car.
Voyager 1s “life” all started back in 1977
when it was launched into space with its brother Voyager 2. They were sent out
to tour the gas planets in our solar system, Voyager 2 took a rout around all
of the planets while Voyager 1 used Saturn and its gravitational pull to shoot
itself past Pluto. Scientists actually suspect that Voyager 1 left our solar
system last year but as NASA said there is no, "Welcome to Interstellar
Space" sign out there.
This spacecraft is prepared well for the not
so promising encounter of aliens. The little ship is equipped with” a
gold-plated, 1970s-era phonograph record with multicultural greetings from
Earth, photos and songs, including Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode,"
along with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Louis Armstrong.” That encounter is not
looking so good considering the fact that at the pace that the Voyager 1 is
traveling right now it would take 40,000 years for the ship to reach our
nearest star, Proxima Centauri, and the ship only has an estimated 12 years of
fuel, plutonium, left.
This spacecraft has potential to show us,
humans, what is actually out of our solar system where no man or machine has
ever been. The Voyager 1 has already showed that it can do its job, NASA said
Voyager 1 sent back, “dazzling postcard views of Jupiter's giant red spot and
Saturn's shimmering rings”. If there is other life forms out there this
spacecraft is our best chance of finding them. The Voyager 1 has potential to
be the most educating device ever made.
There would be an amazing jump in education
if this ship, Voyager 1 could pull through and send good evidence, pictures of
aliens or unknown materials, back to earth.
