whitestazn88 wrote: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.