Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Voyager 1 will reach one light-day from Earth in 2026. Here’s what that
means
In 1977, NASA launched two interstellar probes, Voyager 1 to explore Jupiter
and Saturn, and Voyager 2 to for Uranus and Neptune. After the successful planetary
flybys, they were commissioned to explore interstellar space, a region of outer
space beyond the influence of the solar wind. They successfully reached interstellar
space in 2012 and 2018, respectively, and they are still flying at a speed of
over 55,000 km/h. Next year, Voyager 1 is expected to fly one light-day, about
26 billion kilometers, away from our planet. To travel that distance, it takes 24
hours for a light or a signal at the speed of light, or over 1.2 million years for
a commercial jetliner at a cruising speed. It requires continuing and
inter-generational effort to maintain contact with the probes, but NASA’s project
team members, as well as the retired members, are hoping to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the Voyager project with the probes flying over one light-day
from Earth.
Read the article and learn about the 48-year-old probe still traveling
26 billion km away.
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