`Voyager, the NASA spacecraft, will soon creat history by covering a journey of one full light day — a vast distance that light covers in 24 hours. It is awe-inspiring event that reminds us the vastness of the universe.
Voyager was launched in 1977 and has travelled 16 billion miles from the earth. It is still functional and is sending signals. Its journey tells us about human inquisitiveness, endurance and ambition.
Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause — the boundary where the solar wind from the sun gives way to interstellar space. It moves approximately 38000 miles per hour. Radio signals take 24 hours to reach the earth from the Voyager.
November 15, 2026. Voyager will be 16 billion miles from the earth. Jan 28, 2027. It will reach one light-day mark.
Apollo 10 had attained a speed of 25000 miles per hour in 1960. Such a high-speed vehicle will take five months to reach the sun by covering 93 million miles.
Voyager 1 has completed 50 years of journey by covering equivalent to 1 light-day.
The issue is where is the end of our solar system. Maybe it is in Oort cloud or may be farther. There the gravitational pull of the sun fades away. It is half the way to Proxima Centaur, our nearest star neighbour.
It is a fuzzy region. Voyager will take 40000 years to reach this region — the gravitational edge. It is two light years away.
All this exploration will reveal new secrets of the cosmos.
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