This NASA illustration shows us what Voyager 1 looks like while traveling through space.
The spacecraft Voyager 1 has made an out-of-this-world achievement! It has become the first object made by people to travel into interstellar space.
NASA scientists weren’t sure at first if Voyager 1 had left the heliosphere, a bubble-like region that surrounds our solar system. Measuring the density of plasma outside the spacecraft was the only way to know for certain. Plasma is a state of matter that you see whenever you look at a neon sign or a bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, Voyager 1 does not have working equipment that can measure plasma directly. Scientists wondered how they could gain the data they needed.
Then in March 2012, the sun expelled a blast of solar wind along with magnetic fields. When the solar wind reached Voyager 1 in April 2013, the spacecraft began to vibrate. These vibrations helped scientists figure out the density of the plasma outside the spacecraft. They found it was far too dense to be within the heliosphere. Scientists now believe that Voyager 1 entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012.
NASA scientists today appreciate the hard work that Voyager 1’s designers put into building a long-lasting vehicle. Launched in September 1977, the 36-year-old probe has equipment considered low technology by today’s standards. Its computers have much less memory than a smart phone. Yet, Voyager 1 keeps going and going and going.
Throughout its travels, Voyager 1 has sent back important data about space. This flow of data is expected to continue for at least seven more years. Highlights of its almost 12-billion-mile trip include amazing, close-up photos of Jupiter and Saturn.
More than 500 years ago, explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan changed many people’s understanding of the world. Today, Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft Voyager 2 are making similar accomplishments in space. They are allowing scientists to learn more about space than they ever knew before.
Image credit: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
Related Link
- NASA Voyager
See photos and watch videos of Voyager 1’s and Voyager 2’s space travels.
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