NASA's Voyager to prepare us for future deep space missions

September 13, 2013 03:58 PM ETComputerworld - As NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft travels outside the solar system, scientists hope to learn about the forces pushing on the "bubble" around the sun and how interstellar radiation could affect future space exploration.

"There's never been anything like this," said Ed Stone, chief scientist for the Voyager mission. "Nothing has ever been outside the solar bubble before. Nothing."

NASA scientists confirmed that the Voyager 1 space probe has gone into the interstellar region beyond our solar system. (Image: NASA)

Stone is hardly a newcomer to the Voyager mission. He was the chief scientist on the project during Voyager's planning stages in the early 1970s.

Not only did Voyager 1 make history by becoming the first human-made spacecraft to journey beyond the solar system, but it did so on 36- to 40-year-old technology, Stone told Computerworld on Friday.

"This was one of our long-range hopes," Stone said. "We had no way to know at the time that this was possible because we didn't know how far away the edge of the bubble was. When Voyager was launched, the space age was only 20 years old. Most things didn't even last a few years back then. We had no idea if Voyager could last for 36 years and go as far as it has."

To put it in perspective, a smartphone today has 240,000 more memory than Voyager 1. That makes the Voyager 1 probe a testament to the power of engineering.

"This whole mission has been a major part of my life," Stone said. "I've been so fortunate to be part of this historic journey. This is the first spacecraft to sail in the cosmic sea between the stars."

The Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 with its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2 . On Thursday, NASA announced what had already been suspected -- that the spacecraft had left the solar system and had entered interstellar space in August 2012. The probe has journeyed between 14 billion and 15 billion miles.

"The Voyager team needed time to analyze those observations and make sense of them," Stone said during a press conference Thursday. "But we can now answer the question we've all been asking -- 'Are we there yet?' Yes, we are."

Stone explained that it took scientists months to figure out whether Voyager 1 had left the solar system because the instrument that Voyager used to measures plasma, an ionic gas, stopped working in 1980. Plasma is different depending on whether it is inside or outside the heliosphere, which is like a bubble that surrounds the sun. Without that measurement tool, scientists had to analyze plasma waves, which was a more time-consuming process.

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NASA's Voyager 2 marks 36 years on its space odyssey

Computerworld - Voyager 2, one of two NASA spacecraft to travel farthest from Earth, marked 36 years in space Tuesday.

The spacecraft, which launched on Aug. 20, 1977 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket, is more than 9 billion miles away from the sun, according to NASA.

Voyager 2, working in conjunction with its twin Voyager 1, were launched to explore the outer solar system. Both spacecraft have flown past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, along with 48 of their moons and their magnetic fields.

Voyager 2 is the only NASA spacecraft to have visited and explored Uranus and Neptune.

In 1990, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 both embarked on a mission to enter interstellar space, the space between star systems in a galaxy.

NASA noted that both spacecraft still are sending scientific information about their surroundings back through the Deep Space Network, an international network of large antennas and communication facilities.

There's a scientific debate going on about where Voyager 1 is.

NASA reported late in June that Voyager 1, which was launched on Sep. 5, 1977, was nearing the edge of the solar system, flying near the edge of the heliosphere, which is akin to a bubble around the sun. The spacecraft is so close to the edge of the solar system that it is sending back more information about charged particles from outside the solar system and less from those inside it, according to the space agency.

However, a team of researchers from the University of Maryland last week reported that they believe the spacecraft has already left the solar system and entered interstellar space.

Voyager 1, according to university researchers, has begun the first exploration of our galaxy beyond the sun's influence.

Despite the debate over Voyager 1, scientists seem to consistently believe that Voyager 2 still is within the heliosphere.

This article, NASA's Voyager 2 marks 36 years on its space odyssey, was originally published at Computerworld.com.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

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Voyager 1, where are you?

Computerworld - NASA's Voyager 1 has journeyed farther from Earth than any other man-made object, but there's a debate about exactly how far it's traveled and whether it's actually left our solar system.

In June, NASA reported that the 36-year-old Voyager, which launched on Sep. 5, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space, had traveled more than 11 billion miles from the sun and was nearing the edge of the solar system and interstellar space.

However, a team of researchers from the University of Maryland yesterday reported that the spacecraft has already left the solar system and entered interstellar space - or the space between star systems in a galaxy. "It's a somewhat controversial view, but we think Voyager has finally left the Solar System, and is truly beginning its travels through the Milky Way," said Marc Swisdak, a research scientist at the University of Maryland.

Voyager 1, according to university researchers, has begun the first exploration of our galaxy beyond the Sun's influence.

The scientists have created a model of the outer edge of our solar system and say the data coming back from Voyager fits what they would expect to see in that model.

NASA officials could not be reached for comment.

However, less than two months ago, NASA said Voyager 1 was believed to be near the edge of the heliosphere, which basically is a bubble around the sun. The spacecraft is so close to the edge of the solar system that it now is sending back more information about charged particles from outside the solar system and less from those inside it, according to the space agency.

"This strange, last region before interstellar space is coming into focus, thanks to Voyager 1, humankind's most distant scout," Ed Stone, Voyager's project scientist at the California Institute of Technology, said in an earlier statement. "If you looked at the cosmic ray and energetic particle data in isolation, you might think Voyager had reached interstellar space, but the team feels Voyager 1 has not yet gotten there because we are still within the domain of the sun's magnetic field."

NASA noted that its scientists don't know exactly how far Voyager 1 needs to travel to enter interstellar space. It could take a few months or even years.

Researchers from the University of Maryland, however, say they believe Voyager left our solar system a little more than a year ago.

The issue revolves around how scientists detect the edge of our solar system. The university noted the conventional view is that that scientists will know it's passed through this mysterious boundary when Voyager stops seeing solar particles and starts seeing galactic particles, along with a change in the prevailing direction of the local magnetic field.

Researchers say that NASA isn't taking into consideration that the border of the heliosphere is very uneven and magnetic field lines become confusing and variable when the magnetic fields of the sun and of interstellar space connect.

Part of Voyager 1's mission is to measure the size of the heliosphere.

Scientists are eager to see what the spacecraft will find in interstellar space, which is believed to be filled with star particles.

Voyager 1 launched with its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2. Both have flown past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. In 1990, they embarked on a mission to enter the interstellar region. Voyager 2 is currently just 9 billion miles away from the sun, according to NASA.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at  @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

See more by Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld.com.

Read more about Emerging Technologies in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.

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