Should NASA turn Voyager I back around?

[Army of GOD]

uh oh, saxi posted bellsprout. This is definitely a trapthread for me.

[Funkyterrance]

uh oh, saxi posted bellsprout. This is definitely a trapthread for me.

Ditto.

[Army of GOD]

uh oh, saxi posted bellsprout. This is definitely a trapthread for me.

Ditto.

[Funkyterrance]

uh oh, saxi posted bellsprout. This is definitely a trapthread for me.

Ditto.

Hehe, wasn't sure if you'd catch that or not.

[Army of GOD]

shut up

[Phatscotty]

[Funkyterrance]

shut up

Lick my pokeballs.

[2dimes]

Is it beyond half way yet?

[whitestazn88]

just to clarify something, solar panels would stop working on the voyager like.... around uranus? i don't know exactly where, but they're not very efficient, and the strength of the sun is not strong enough that far from it, and once it passes the kuiper belt (if it even had that capability), it would still be 4.some light years away from the nearest star, so I doubt it could draw power from any light source.

shit, our solar system is so big that voyager 1, given infinite fuel, probably won't even reach the oort cloud by the time humanity has destroyed itself.

[Dukasaur]

just to clarify something, solar panels would stop working on the voyager like.... around uranus? i don't know exactly where, but they're not very efficient, and the strength of the sun is not strong enough that far from it, and once it passes the kuiper belt (if it even had that capability), it would still be 4.some light years away from the nearest star, so I doubt it could draw power from any light source.

shit, our solar system is so big that voyager 1, given infinite fuel, probably won't even reach the oort cloud by the time humanity has destroyed itself.

Just to clarify, the light is indeed too dim where the Voyagers (1 and 2) are now for solar panels to have any effect. However, the Voyagers are powered by RTG nuclear reactors and 4 of the 10 scientific instruments on board Voyager 1 and 5 of the 10 scientific instruments on board Voyager 2 are still functioning.

They are also still under their own propulsion and accelerating. Voyager 1 is expected to encounter another star system first: within 40,000 years. They are heading in different directions, although both are riding the bow of the Heliosheath and are expected to break out into open space within a decade.

[x-raider]

Did they even equip it with a turn-around button?

I just want to clarify here. You do understand that they physically can't turn it around now, right?

[whitestazn88]

just to clarify something, solar panels would stop working on the voyager like.... around uranus? i don't know exactly where, but they're not very efficient, and the strength of the sun is not strong enough that far from it, and once it passes the kuiper belt (if it even had that capability), it would still be 4.some light years away from the nearest star, so I doubt it could draw power from any light source.

shit, our solar system is so big that voyager 1, given infinite fuel, probably won't even reach the oort cloud by the time humanity has destroyed itself.

Just to clarify, the light is indeed too dim where the Voyagers (1 and 2) are now for solar panels to have any effect. However, the Voyagers are powered by RTG nuclear reactors and 4 of the 10 scientific instruments on board Voyager 1 and 5 of the 10 scientific instruments on board Voyager 2 are still functioning.

They are also still under their own propulsion and accelerating. Voyager 1 is expected to encounter another star system first: within 40,000 years. They are heading in different directions, although both are riding the bow of the Heliosheath and are expected to break out into open space within a decade.

Thanks for the info, I was just answering whoever said "why aren't there solar panels on it," but don't know much of anything regarding the actual devices or functionality of anything on the voyagers.

As for your time predictions, didn't voyager 1 just get into or pass the kuiper belt?

From there, the edge of the Heliosheath, or where solar wind is no longer effective, from my understanding, is according to wikipedia (assuming heliosheath and heliosphere are the same), up to 4 times greater than the distance of pluto.

Pluto is 39 AU from the sun, on average, the extent of the Kuiper belt is estimated at 30-50 AU from the sun (is "from the sun necessary"? I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about space). So that means, in 10 years, the voyager will travel up to 4 times the distance it already has since [whenever voyager was launched]? Is that possible or make sense? I assume that minimized effect of gravity from the sun and larger planets probably helps, but it really would increase the speed of voyager by that much?

Disregard the second part, I wanted to leave it up so some people have information about the solar system, but Voyager 1 is located ~130AU from the center of the solar system at this point based on my reading of the wiki page on the Heliosphere, so my question is null.

[Funkyterrance]

just to clarify something, solar panels would stop working on the voyager like.... around uranus? i don't know exactly where, but they're not very efficient, and the strength of the sun is not strong enough that far from it, and once it passes the kuiper belt (if it even had that capability), it would still be 4.some light years away from the nearest star, so I doubt it could draw power from any light source.

shit, our solar system is so big that voyager 1, given infinite fuel, probably won't even reach the oort cloud by the time humanity has destroyed itself.

Just to clarify, the light is indeed too dim where the Voyagers (1 and 2) are now for solar panels to have any effect. However, the Voyagers are powered by RTG nuclear reactors and 4 of the 10 scientific instruments on board Voyager 1 and 5 of the 10 scientific instruments on board Voyager 2 are still functioning.

They are also still under their own propulsion and accelerating. Voyager 1 is expected to encounter another star system first: within 40,000 years. They are heading in different directions, although both are riding the bow of the Heliosheath and are expected to break out into open space within a decade.

That's awesome that not only are we creating space junk but space nuclear waste as well.

[bedub1]

Did they even equip it with a turn-around button?

I just want to clarify here. You do understand that they physically can't turn it around now, right?

This entire thread is a troll.

[2dimes]

Did they even equip it with a turn-around button?

I just want to clarify here. You do understand that they physically can't turn it around now, right?

This entire thread is a troll trap.

That doesn't mean they can't have a discussion in it. Even if they... are both in the same brain.