Are we there yet? The longest car ride ever…
It’s a big day for science! After 42 years, NASA announces that the Voyager 2 spacecraft reached interstellar space.
It was an 11.1 billion mile journey the outer boundary of our solar system. Voyager 1 (also launched in 1997) accomplished this milestone in 2012. We knew when Voyager 1 left the bubble of the solar system when it transmitted a different sound back to us as it passed into interstellar space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIAZWb9_si4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIAZWb9_si4
If you thought THAT was a long ride, consider that (even traveling at 55,230 km/hour) it will take another 40,000 years for the Voyagers to reach the next closest star, Alpha Centauri. It’s a big universe out there!
If you’re curious about the Voyager missions, visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory page for a timeline of the Voyager missions, interactive 3D models of the Voyagers, and information about the golden disks the Voyagers are carrying on board.
Grier School
2522 Grier School Rd. | P.O. Box 308; Birmingham, PA 16686-0308
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177
