VOYAGER 1 & 2

Would like to if there is anybody out there that knows if the 2 voyager missions are still going or not?

If so what information are they still sending back to us? Do we know what distance the are from earth now?

Will the recent budget cuts to nasa affect them?

How do we know they have not found anything of interest? ie: Aliens!

They are still transmitting information and have gone well beyond their original missions, now being directed to continue out of the solar system so study the effects of the intergalactic medium. Voyager 1 carries a "Golden Record" which is a phonograph which contains a wide variety of sounds on Earth should any aliens get curious about what we are like.

Originally posted by cnm1976
Would like to if there is anybody out there that knows if the 2 voyager missions are still going or not?

A google search would probably answer your questions sooner, but here are some links for you.

voyager.jpl.nasa.gov...
en.wikipedia.org...

But yes they are still going and sending back weekly reports.

If so what information are they still sending back to us? Do we know what distance the are from earth now?

Voyager 1 is over 100au away and Voyager 2 is over 80au away. They are basically at the edge of our solar system. I think the only real data that's sent back is telemetry data.

Will the recent budget cuts to nasa affect them?

Not as far as I've seen, no.

Here's an illustration for context.

voyager.jpl.nasa.gov...
As of July 2, 2007, at the speed of light, it takes 14 hours and 12 minutes for a signal from Voyager 1 to travel over 103 AU to reach one of the giant antennas of the DSN, and 11 hours and 24 minutes for Voyager 2, which is over 83 AU away.

Here's some related ATS threads


Voyager II Nearing Solar System's Edge from 2006

How Far.....? -an oldie but lots of good info

I was in 8th grade when they launched Voyager 1, and it absolutely fascinated me. It still does to be completely honest. LOL

I could just imagine at the time, it being found by an alien species, and contact being made between our two races. It's strange, but I've never have forgotten about Voyager 1, and find myself thinking about where it might be from time to time.

Ahh, the memories of childhood.

Originally posted by Jbird
Here's an illustration for context.

Just a question, what is that big Orange firey looking thing on the side (Left) is that the end of the world coming or something more boring.....

Heh, that fiery orange stuff is something much more mundane then the end of the world. It's intergalactic space, an area we don't know a whole lot about.

Here's a website that explains that picture a little better:
blackholesandastrostuff.blogspot.com...

That orange thing is nothing but the Interstellar winds; this image will give you a better idea



I suggest you to have a look at the threads in JBird's posts

What amazing machines.
I remember our local Rock and Roll Station back in DC would play full albums every Sunday night. But one Particular Sunday, it was different. It was just before Launch of the "Golden Record". They played all the audio.
The greetings, the sounds of Earth. Chuck Berry.

How much we have learned, how far we have come.

The Voyager spacecraft are simply increadble feats of engineering. The Golden Record is a facinating study in and of itself.

voyager.jpl.nasa.gov...

Voyager 1 carries a "Golden Record"

Voyager 2 also has one.