For the first time in history, a manmade spacecraft has reached the outer edge of our solar system and will soon enter interstellar space. Now about 10.8 billion miles from the sun, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has crossed into an area where the velocity of the hot ionized gas, or plasma, emanating directly outward from the sun has slowed to zero. Those solar winds are likely blowing sideways, scientists believe, as a result of pressure from the interstellar wind in the region between stars. Researchers currently estimate that the spacecraft will cross the frontier into interstellar space in about four years.
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Voyager 1 Hurtling Through Solar System's Outer Limits
Posted by: Katherine Noyes December 14, 2010 03:30 PMFor the first time in history, a manmade spacecraft has reached the outer edge of our solar system and will soon enter interstellar space. Now about 10.8 billion miles from the sun, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has crossed into an area where the velocity of the hot ionized gas, or plasma, emanating directly outward from the sun has slowed to zero. Those solar winds are likely blowing sideways, scientists believe, as a result of pressure from the interstellar wind in the region between stars. Researchers currently estimate that the spacecraft will cross the frontier into interstellar space in about four years.