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For a few months each year, the distances between the Voyager spacecraft and Earth actually decrease. You might know that both Voyager spacecraft were launched into space in the 1970s and visited the outer planets through the 1980s. They\u2019ve been heading out of our solar system ever since. In 2012, Voyager 1 entered interstellar space. Then, in 2018, NASA announced that Voyager 2 had entered interstellar space, too. They are both headed outward, never to return to Earth. So, can they get closer?<\/p>\n
The answer is that for a few months each year, Earth in its orbit moves toward the spacecraft faster than they\u2019re moving away. Earth\u2019s motion around the sun is faster than the motion of the Voyager spacecraft. Earth moves through space at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour (30 km\/s). Voyager 1 moves at a speed of 38,000 miles per hour (17 km\/s). Voyager 2 moves at a speed of 35,000 miles per hour (16 km\/s).<\/p>\n
So, for a portion of the year, Earth comes around the side of the sun and is speeding toward the spacecraft faster than they\u2019re moving away. Therefore their distances to Earth are getting closer, if only temporarily. They never change their outward motion. It is we who change.<\/p>\n
From this video, you can see the trajectory of the Voyager spacecraft as they leave Earth, encounter the outer planets (changing their trajectories), and then head in a straight line outward, out of the solar system.<\/p>\n