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Showing posts with the label Io

VOYAGERS INTO INTERSTELLAR SPACE

Sure, Armstrong's walk on the Moon was remarkable.  Our space exploits helped bankrupt the Soviet Union, leading to the end of the Cold War.  Yes, the James Webb Space Telescope is doing wonders.   However, maybe the most impressive NASA space project has to be those two Voyagers hurtling into interstellar space.  You can keep track of their status  here .  Voyager 1 is 14.8 billion miles and Voyager II is 12.4 billion miles away from Planet Earth.  They are moving along at 38,027 miles/hour (I) and 34,391 MPH (II).  It has been more than 45 years since they were launched.  Light would take more than 22 hours to reach Voyager I.  Every day they move away by another three to four light-seconds.   See Voyager I's path . Tim Folger has an excellent article in the July 2022 issue of  Scientific American , entitled  Record-Breaking Voyager Spacecraft Begin to Power Down .  I'd recommend you read it, but the story is so extraordinary that I feel compelled to summarize the essence