The Future of Voyager-1 and Voyager-2: What Lies Ahead?
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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Voyagers
Recently, a subscriber posed a fascinating question: “Could you explain what lies ahead for the Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 spacecraft? Which stars are they on a trajectory towards? Will they ever encounter extraterrestrial life?”
Launched in 1977, Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 embarked on a mission to study the outer planets of our Solar System, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. After successfully achieving their objectives, these spacecraft continued their journey into the depths of space, raising intriguing questions about their future.
Chapter 1.1: The Power Supply Countdown
Post-2020, both spacecraft will exhaust their supply of plutonium-238, which powers their radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Once this occurs, NASA engineers will deactivate most of their systems, conserving the remaining energy for essential tasks such as collecting and sending back spectroscopy data, as well as monitoring magnetic fields and plasma along their path.
Chapter 1.2: Drifting into the Unknown
By 2025, both Voyager spacecraft will completely deplete their energy resources and will drift aimlessly in the cosmos. Any deviation from their current paths would only occur due to gravitational influences from other celestial bodies or accidental collisions.
Voyager-1 is headed toward the Gliese-445 system, which it will approach in about 40,000 years at a distance of 1.6 light-years from the star. In contrast, Voyager-2 is on course for Sirius, expected to come within 4.3 light-years in approximately 300,000 years.
Chapter 1.3: Speed and Survival
Both spacecraft travel at speeds exceeding 55,000 km/h. A collision with any object larger than a helium atom would spell the end of their missions. However, the odds of such an event are minimal, giving the Voyagers a strong chance of reaching other star systems undamaged.
Chapter 2: Interstellar Fate
It is nearly certain that the gravitational pull of another star will not ensnare the Voyagers. Their fate will likely mirror that of the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua, which made its closest approach to the Sun in 2017.
The object traveled past the Sun at a remarkable speed of over 150,000 km/h and is now on a path out of the Solar System.
Will the Voyagers be intercepted by an extraterrestrial civilization? That remains unknown. However, it is certain they will not exit our galaxy. Our Solar System orbits the galaxy's center approximately 15 times faster than the Voyagers. This means that in several hundred million years, the paths of our Sun and potentially one or both Voyagers may cross.
Who knows? By then, humanity may have established colonies in nearby star systems, potentially becoming the recipients of the messages contained within the Voyagers' golden records.
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