The Voyager probes celebrate their 45th anniversary in an effort to solve a problem

there NASA Celebrating the anniversary of the launch Voyager sensors Launched 45 years ago (in 1977, a few weeks later) and they continue their journey towards the outer part of the solar system Overcoming the heliosphere. Their operational lives have far exceeded expectations, and even if their future is now determined due to the exhaustion of available energy, the contribution to scientific research has been key (also in terms of media coverage).

Now that it’s a file The first space probe Found in 23.49 billion km From Earth the second space probe is located in 19.51 billion km It travels respectively 61,000 km/h (compared to the sun) and 55,000 km/h, and we also look at what they represent and represent to people all over the world. A real success worth celebrating.

NASA celebrates the launch of the Voyager probes, which have been in space for 45 years

How Summoned by JPL NASA Two space probes They travel in interstellar space and are the only ones currently able to do so. Despite the great distances in human terms, the sensors are less than a day/light away from Earth (just over 21 hours). Thanks to the ability to discover data from outsideheliosphere It will be possible to get a better picture of how the Sun, its magnetic field and the solar wind interact with the surrounding space (by incorporating data from the latest sensors).

Nicola Fox (From NASA) Added “Over the past forty-five years, Voyager missions have played an instrumental role in delivering this knowledge [ndr. dell’eliosfera] And it helped change our understanding of the Sun and its influence in ways that no other spacecraft can.”.

remember it Voyager 2 It was launched on August 20, 1977, followed closely by Voyager 1 (It was launched on the 5th of September of the same year). Twin probes still have some primates such as possible passages close to Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989). At the moment, no other spacecraft has had a chance to do what Probe Number 2 did and it will be several years before a mission that can visit exoplanets can be carried out.

He was the first person to come out of the heliosphere Voyager 1 In 2012, the twins followed in 2018. The data showed howheliosphere It is an essential structure to protect the solar system (and thus Earth) from cosmic rays and energetic particles coming from space, blocking up to 70% of them.

Both Voyager space probes They have plutonium RTG (Radioelectric thermoelectric generator) which uses radioactive decay to provide heat and thus electricity. Now, decades later, the energy produced is less and less and that’s why engineers have gradually disabled part of the onboard systems. At some point, in the next few years, the two probes will actually stop working, while they will continue to travel in space anyway.

Moreover, both probes encountered problems of various kinds that made them fear their premature end. In January 2020 for example Voyager 2 is found problemThen it was fixed two months later. also Voyager 1 hurt from a problem which has not yet been repaired. This mainly includes generating information that does not correspond to surveys.

According to reports, despite this problem, the systems continue to function normally (to the point that scientific data collection can continue). Engineers are working hard trying to find a solution or a way around it. Long stays in space sometimes have unexpected effects on hardware, but it seems that the two Voyager You want to continue to amaze us longer.

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