After nearly half a year, Voyager 1’s scientific instruments began working again a couple of weeks ago alleviating a lot of stress for us space nerds back on Earth. You might be thinking, what’s the big issue if Voyager 1 stopped working or maybe some of you are even wondering what Voyager 1 is? Hopefully, you will understand why scientists are so focused on this spacecraft and its mission by the end of this blog!
Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 and its mission was to study the Jovian planets, Jupiter and Saturn–which it successfully completed in 1980. If you do the math, Voyager 1 has been operating for 47 years now, way longer than scientists had anticipated. Its twin, Voyager 2 was sent to study Uranus and Neptune and just like Voyager 1, the spacecraft is still working beyond its predicted timeline. History was made on August 12, 2012, when Voyager 1 finally reached interstellar space (the space between stars) with Voyager 2 following in its footsteps six years later.
The big question is, how has both Voyagers lasted for this long? Most of the instruments attached to both Voyagers weren’t needed for the mission after they travelled beyond the outermost planets. With this, NASA conserved fuel by turning off these instruments and not using other equipment as well. In a way, it’s like how you’re given a set amount of food that’s meant to last only a week but if you figure out how to ration them off, you can make it last for two weeks.
Since scientists didn’t know much about the outermost planets, they weren’t sure if they would detect or encounter extraterrestrials. To prepare for this, they placed a copper disk in both spacecraft. These disks contain information that the extraterrestrials may use to find out more about us, like photographs and sounds from Earth. It was good that they placed this disk in the spacecraft because they might encounter life in interstellar space!
So what’s next for Voyager 1? Unfortunately, it won’t be another 20,000 years before it finally leaves the solar system. Since we’re betting on Voyager 1 lasting for 20,000 years, let’s say it pulls together for 10,000 more, that’s when it’ll encounter its first star, Ross 248. This is thinking way into the future; so what’s going to happen now? To answer this, we must learn more about interstellar space. Interstellar space contains the building blocks for planets and stars, as well as leftover debris from stars, planets, and the formation of the Milky Way. Many scientists back on Earth are benefiting from Voyager 1's data relay since there is so much we don't know about this space. Scientists can use this information to better understand the formation of the universe and possibly answer questions that have vexed humans for centuries, such as how the universe looked in its infancy.
Voyager 1 also made many discoveries on the ice giants of our solar system. Its close flybys to Jupiter and Saturn allowed it to discover a new ring on Saturn and five new moons. For Jupiter, it discovered a thin ring and two new moons. Near Saturn, the spacecraft also completed a close analysis of Titan, one of Saturn’s moons that shows promising signs of supporting life. (This will be covered more in a future blog!)
Unfortunately for scientists and us eager space nerds back on Earth, we have to wait nearly a day before receiving the data collected by Voyager 1. If you read my previous blog, ‘How “Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars” is Filled with Lies,’ I explained how light waves behave and how we view planets and stars not in their present state. Again, just like light, radio waves travel at the speed of light and given that Voyager 1 is quite far from Earth (around 24 billion kilometres), it takes around a day for these signals to reach us.
The sad thing most scientists want to avoid talking about is the end of Voyager 1’s mission. Voyager 1 already put scientists on edge for half a year after its instruments weren’t sending anything back to Earth. The chances of this occurring again but not reviving is becoming increasingly possible as it becomes older. After 2026, Voyager 1 will send its final data and cruise along the Milky Way galaxy, discovering its wonders but not sharing them with earthlings. Who knows, maybe one day some humans can travel as far as Voyagers 1 and 2 have.
If some of the topics discussed today interested you and you’d like to find out more about them, stay tuned for more blogs which may cover these topics more in-depth.