NASA's Voyager 1 May Have Left Our Solar System

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

This is so fuckin' awesome it makes me teary. Godspeed Voyager 1. Godspeed.

It is my biggest dream to one day go to space. I could die right after that and I wouldn't give a damn. It is, after all, the final frontier.

You echo my feelings man. I may have never met you before but this post has caused me to instantly like you.

The biggest smile appeared on my face when I saw this. I can't even describe the excitement and pure joy that is flooding my body right now. One day humanity will truly be able to touch the stars. I may not be alive for that day but I can be alive for these small first steps and think endlessly on the possibilities.
Go with speed voyager. May your trip be long and informative.

 

[go-10]

all I'm hoping is that if aliens find this thing and come down to Earth out of curiosity that they're smart. Imagine if we're the most intelligent beings in the universe and all other alien races in the galaxy behave like Snooki from Jersey Shore o__0

 

[Ldude893]

Had this looping in my head while reading this article.

 

[octafish]

I can think of nothing more suitable for this news but to put on some headphones and listen to my favourite track on the Golden Record. It's like Blind Willie Johnson knew the loneliness of space.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

It's amazing just imagining the satellite floating out there in the vast black open void. It's beautiful...

Jeez, when you actually take a minute and think about that; man-made tech floating outside our solar system, and how far away it is from us... how far away it is from anything, and just look at that image of it.

Damn.

 

[chiefohara]

God speed Voyager 1.

Must be an incredible feeling for the scientists who worked on it 35 years ago to see that Voyager 1 is still making an impact and expanding the scope of human knowledge

 

[Quiet Stranger]

It's amazing just imagining the satellite floating out there in the vast black open void. It's beautiful...

Jeez, when you actually take a minute and think about that; man-made tech floating outside our solar system, and how far away it is from us... how far away it is from anything, and just look at that image of it.

Damn.

It's even better if you imagine it with "What a wonderful world" playing as if it were far away or one of those old songs.

 

[Olas]

But the real question is: When will it become Vger and spawn the Borg?

Wait! Vger spawned the borg?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Yes, I'm sure the species that still has the KKK and problems with gay people can totally handle space aliens.

To be honest, I am quite convinced that eventually WE are going to turn out to be this galaxy's Borg/Reapers/Shadows/Nephilim/Skirineen/Ur'Quan/Yuuzan Vong/Shak'turi/Dread Lords/ID4 Aliens. (Extra points for naming all the sources these appear in.)

Just saying, nuclear weapons are not something you automatically discover before you get to space flight...

Spoiler

Borg - Star Trek
Reapers - Mass Effect
Shadows - Babylon 5?
Yuuzan Vong - Star Wars: EU

And that's all I know. Also you forgot the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Cylons.

 

[octafish]

Yes, I'm sure the species that still has the KKK and problems with gay people can totally handle space aliens.

To be honest, I am quite convinced that eventually WE are going to turn out to be this galaxy's Borg/Reapers/Shadows/Nephilim/Skirineen/Ur'Quan/Yuuzan Vong/Shak'turi/Dread Lords/ID4 Aliens. (Extra points for naming all the sources these appear in.)

Just saying, nuclear weapons are not something you automatically discover before you get to space flight...

Spoiler

Borg - Star Trek
Reapers - Mass Effect
Shadows - Babylon 5?
Yuuzan Vong - Star Wars: EU

And that's all I know. Also you forgot the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Cylons.

You don't know what the ID4 Aliens are from? Really?

 

[uchytjes]

To be honest, I am quite convinced that eventually WE are going to turn out to be this galaxy's Borg/Reapers/Shadows/Nephilim/Skirineen/Ur'Quan/Yuuzan Vong/Shak'turi/Dread Lords/ID4 Aliens. (Extra points for naming all the sources these appear in.)

Just saying, nuclear weapons are not something you automatically discover before you get to space flight...

You may not automatically "discover" nuclear weapons on your way to space travel specifically, but its kinda hard to avoid at least knowing how powerful fusion/fission is and knowing how to harness it.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Yes, I'm sure the species that still has the KKK and problems with gay people can totally handle space aliens.

To be honest, I am quite convinced that eventually WE are going to turn out to be this galaxy's Borg/Reapers/Shadows/Nephilim/Skirineen/Ur'Quan/Yuuzan Vong/Shak'turi/Dread Lords/ID4 Aliens. (Extra points for naming all the sources these appear in.)

Just saying, nuclear weapons are not something you automatically discover before you get to space flight...

Spoiler

Borg - Star Trek
Reapers - Mass Effect
Shadows - Babylon 5?
Yuuzan Vong - Star Wars: EU

And that's all I know. Also you forgot the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Cylons.

You don't know what the ID4 Aliens are from? Really?

*Quick Google search*
Oh those aliens. Yeah, I know them. Just never heard of them being referred to as "ID4 Aliens" before.

 

[soren7550]

I'm surprised that it's still working.

 

[Ghaleon640]

OT: My only real question is..... is there any clue on how long it will take before it reaches another solar system when it does leave? Because i don't think we get reception out there.

After a trip to wikipedia I found two things:

1. Voyager 1 is heading in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus and that the closet star in that constellation is 5.98 light years away

2. Voyager 1 will need about 17,565 years at its current velocity to travel a complete light year

So it will be 105,038.7 years until Voyager 1 gets anywhere close to another star.

Unless it hits the edge of the screen and start coming back from the opposite side of the solar system. Thus proving once and for all that we're just npc's in a really, really shitty video game.

Gotta say... its kind of saddening hearing all the numbers up front like that. I want space travel to be possible, but... I'll certainly never see it happen.

 

[FantomOmega]

I'm surprised that it's still working.

They don't make them like they used to

The Voyager is the Nokia 3310 of it's day

 

[praetor_alpha]

Yes, I'm sure the species that still has the KKK and problems with gay people can totally handle space aliens.

To be honest, I am quite convinced that eventually WE are going to turn out to be this galaxy's Borg/Reapers/Shadows/Nephilim/Skirineen/Ur'Quan/Yuuzan Vong/Shak'turi/Dread Lords/ID4 Aliens. (Extra points for naming all the sources these appear in.)

Just saying, nuclear weapons are not something you automatically discover before you get to space flight...

Shit, man. That's a real possibility. We've already practiced it among ourselves. Take a look at what we did to the Indians, not to mention the holocaust and other tragedies throughout history.

If Earth turns into the galactic partyhouse, it would be much better than what could have happened (and probably better than what we deserve).

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

No. Stop. Come back.

 

[Mortuorum]

Despite this, there are still three factors that most scientists agree would consitute [sic] evidence of an exit from our solar system if a craft experienced them in tandem. First, the craft would have to experience an increase in collisions from charged particles found in interstellar space. Second, the rate at which solar particles collided with it, irrespective of where these particles might be going, would have to drop dramatically. Finally, the craft must be able to detect a change in the direction of the magnetic fields surrounding it; once the craft is beyond the grasp of our sun, the fields around it should shift to reflect the direction of magnetic fields in interstellar space.

It's truly amazing that a probe launched back in 1975 (you know, back when we thought digital watches were pretty neat and desktop computers were science fiction) is still sending back meaningful data after all this time. Detroit still can't build a car that will last half that long even with regular maintenance. Way to go, NASA!