{"id":774599,"date":"2023-11-28T11:10:50","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T16:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=774599"},"modified":"2023-11-28T11:10:50","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T16:10:50","slug":"where-is-voyager-2-going-and-when-will-it-get-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=774599","title":{"rendered":"Where is Voyager 2 going? And when will it get there?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are identical. In this artist\u2019s concept, one of the twin Voyager space probes races away from the solar system. Recently, an X account<\/a> dedicated to one of the spacecraft tweeted a lengthy answer to \u201cWhere is Voyager 2 going?\u201d You\u2019ll find it below. Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)\/ NASA\/ ESA\/ G. Bacon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where is Voyager 2 going?<\/h3>\n
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1\/ In answer to ‘where are you going?’: ?The journey will effectively end (for you) when my power supply is so low that I can’t operate any of my instruments. The EOM command will shut down communication with Earth. When? Within the next few years.<\/p>\n

\u2014 NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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3\/ The final goal was 2 send radio signals back 2 Earth through Triton’s atmosphere, yielding data on its composition & density. 2 get that alignment right, I was sent skimming over Neptune’s leading side & looping below the ecliptic plane to pass through Triton’s radio shadow!<\/p>\n

\u2014 NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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5\/ \u2026but the reality is that 1.65 light-years is still an insurmountable distance. Every other star I will pass within the next _million_ years will be more than 2 light years from me. It is very likely that I will not _ever_ encounter anything.<\/p>\n

\u2014 NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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7\/ I\u2019ll see the last of the stars extinguish,& the flashes of evaporating black holes. The matter that I was made of will reach a time where it\u2019ll simply fade away,along with the last of the longest wavelengths of light,stretched out by the expansion & cold death of the universe.<\/p>\n

\u2014 NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check \u2019em out here.<\/p>\n

Voyager 1 and 2<\/h3>\n

Launched in 1977, Voyagers 1 and 2 are the most distant human-made objects from Earth. And so they are likely to remain, for now. The New Horizons spacecraft \u2013 launched in 2006 \u2013 left Earth far faster than any outbound probe before it. But it won\u2019t overtake the Voyagers as the most distant human-made object from Earth, because the two Voyagers received gravity assists from mighty Jupiter and Saturn.<\/p>\n

Voyager 1 is slightly more distant than Voyager 2. Astronomers and space fans sometimes measure distances across our solar system in Earth-sun units, called astronomical units, or AU. A single AU is about 93 million miles (150 million km). Voyager 1 is 162 AU from Earth. And Voyager 2 is 135 AU from Earth. <\/p>\n

You can keep track of their progress here.<\/p>\n

For a few months each year, the distance between each Voyager spacecraft and Earth shrinks. That\u2019s because \u2013 as the Voyagers streak away from our sun at more than 30,000 miles per hour (48,000 kph) \u2013 Earth is also moving, pursuing our yearly orbit around<\/em> the sun. As we loop around the sun, sometimes we\u2019re going in a direction opposite that of one or another Voyager. And sometimes when we\u2019re hurtling through space \u2013 traveling at our own speed of 67,000 mph (107,000 km\/h) \u2013 we\u2019re hot on the heels of one or another Voyager. And so the distance between it and us decreases \u2026 until we head back the other way again, pulled inexorably by our sun\u2019s gravity.<\/p>\n

In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system. Then, in 2018, Voyager 2 crossed the heliopause, the boundary of our sun\u2019s influence, heading toward deep space. In 2021, Voyager 1 sent back a message that it\u2019s hearing a faint, monotone hum of interstellar space.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, NASA said that it would be extending the science mission of Voyager 2 for another three years. It found a way to conserve power on the spacecraft and keep it communicating with us a bit longer. <\/p>\n

And so Voyager 1 should keep communicating until 2025. Excellent work, for a spacecraft scheduled to last only four years.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: Where is Voyager 2 going? It\u2019s not aimed for any particular star, but in 40,000 years it will pass within 1.65 light-years of the star Ross 248.<\/p>\n

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Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n

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About the Author:<\/h6>\n

Kelly Kizer Whitt has been a science writer specializing in astronomy for more than two decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine, and she has made regular contributions to AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club, among other outlets. Her children\u2019s picture book, Solar System Forecast, was published in 2012. She has also written a young adult dystopian novel titled A Different Sky. When she is not reading or writing about astronomy and staring up at the stars, she enjoys traveling to the national parks, creating crossword puzzles, running, tennis, and paddleboarding. Kelly lives in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n