The Voyager Spacecraft Kick Ass! Prove Solar System is Not Straight!
The U.S. had the long-term view in the 70's. The Cold War was
patiently being fought. The US was patiently (and stubbornly) in
Vietnam. Plans were even put in place to stop dependence on foreign
oil after 1973's crisis. That has since changed and our instant-gratification has become the norm. Bet
everything that GW would have pushed the nuke button to deal with U.S.S.R.
if it hadn't crumbled.
In the fall of 1977, in a prime example of long-term planning, the two Voyager spacecraft were launched a
In the fall of 1977, in a prime example of long-term planning, the two Voyager spacecraft were launched a month apart. The original goal was for them to take 5 years to rendezvous with Jupiter and Saturn, transmitting photos like this (of Jupiter):
[Click on photo for a larger version]
In addition to photos, Voyager 1's mission revealed complex structures in Saturn's rings. Voyager 2, meanwhile, did a more detailed pass on Jupiter and Saturn with closer study of their moons. It identified volcanic activity on Jupiter's Moon, Io. The resulting photos and research were so stunning, their mission was extended and Voyager 2 was sent off to explore Uranus, Neptune as well as their moons, even discovering 10 around Uranus. Check out this shot of Neptune from Voyager 2:
Ay, Chihuahua, so nice! For more photos from these spacecraft, check out this gallery of images on Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website. So nice!
When Voyagers were launched, in 1977, even though the missions were expected to be 5 years, their designers were smart enough to provide the power resources that would last for over 40 years. FORTY YEARS! We can't think forty weeks ahead these days. We can't even acknowledge the long-term effects of greenhouse gases! We can't even think strategically about the war on terror (even though this conflict is generations in the making, it's gotta be fixed NOW)! We can't even wait for our next election; people are desperate to name the next president a year out! You can't even wait to finish this article!
So, now that these ships are far beyond any planets (more than doubling Pluto's distance from the sun), we are still learning from them. There's been news coverage recently because Voyager 2 has reached the "termination shock," kind of like a baseball field's infield for the solar system. The details aren't important, what is important is that Voyager 2 hit this milestone 10 billion miles sooner than Voyager 1 did. The solar system, therefore, is bent, not straight. I'm sure that means a lot to some scientists and they'll come closer to figuring out where the hell we came from and what the heck this all is. Here's a graphic that will explain it all for you very clearly:
Clear, right?
All this data and knowledge we've gotten from these Voyagers melts the cerebellum. Not bad for a little project: mind-bending photos of four planets and their moons (discovering 10 new moons on Uranus in the process), studying planets' atmospheres, discovering active volcanoes on moon Io, lakes on moon Europa, identifying what the red dots are on Jupiter... the list goes on. Check it: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
What ships are we sending out there now? The Voyager crafts make the Beagle, Spirit and Opportunity missions to Mars look pathetic. [Heck, the Beagle 2 failed to land successfully and broke on impact.] Well, Juno heads out in 2011 to study Jupiter's atmosphere. The MESSENGER will do first of three encounters with Mercury in January and just did a fly-by on Venus. Venus itself should get an in-robot look-see by In-Situ explorer, leaving in 5 years. Is it me, or do all of these lack the sweeping scope of the Voyager missions? Are the Voyager craft the most effective initiatives we've developed to study our solar system?
As a side note... let's remember how this administration tried to contribute to the great exploration of space. Trying to echo Kennedy's unification of the country behind the drive to get to the moon, George tried to fire up the country when Iraq started really falling apart in 2004, and said he wanted a manned mission to Mars by 2020. That clearly seems to be 1. desperate/misdirected/ineffective, 2. a terrible use of our resources as the world is slowly boiling and blowing itself up, and 3. right on track - three years later and we can all see the progress we've made.
The Voyager spacecraft will continue to operate until 2020, when their power source will completely die. Even then, they will soar onward, prepared to meet alien life forms and tell about humans thanks to the golden records they have on board. I'm sure they will still teach us more, like this announcement this week. Maybe they'll teach aliens something for a change; share the knowledge-love.
Let's, as the human race, do this again! Why not? Let's think on this scale in terms of expanse and time!
The Voyager spacecraft? HAWT action [hot ak-shuh
n], and still growing.
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