So Long and Thanks for All the Science!
Io, with Jupiter behind, as seen by Voyager 1
Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 and, along with its twin, Voyager 2 (which, oddly enough, was launched before Voyager 1) gave us some of the most awe-inspiring images we had ever seen of the solar system around us. Perhaps the most famous photo, thanks in large part to a book written by Carl Sagan, is the one known at “The Pale Blue Dot” . For that, Voyager, from a distance of about 4 billion miles, spun around a took a picture of Earth. It was the first time many truly realized just how small a part of the universe we are and I imagine that it came as quite a shock.
Voyager 1 has been operating continuously for the past 31 years and is likely to continue until sometime around 2020, when its power runs out. Until then, it’s expected to provide data about the area known as the heliosheath and, if we’re very lucky, we’ll get some data about the heliopause and beyond from her before NASA starts powering things down.
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Category: Hey, Mr. Science Guy!, Rampant Geekery
