HuskyCaucasian Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I debated where to put this, but I think it's pretty darn cool enough for it's own thread.... Space.Time.com- It is an historic threshold: An object created by humans has exited our solar system. For years now, scientists have speculated as to when the Voyager I spacecraft would officially leave all traces of our sun behind — exiting the heliosphere, and entering into the great beyond. Wednesday morning, the official word came down, in the form of a press release from the American Geophysical Union (more at the link above, including the official press release) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Paging Balta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Can't wait for light speed drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Time to conquer the galaxy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Taken from a place I'm now a writer for: VOYAGER 1 STATUS UPDATE Earlier today, March 20th, 2013, several news sources reported a “breaking news” story that scientists were saying that the Voyager 1 spacecraft had finally exited the Solar System. Following these reports, Edward Stone, a scientist with the Voyager Project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, released the following statement: “It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space. In December 2012, the Voyager science team reported that Voyager 1 is within a new region called 'the magnetic highway' where energetic particles changed dramatically. A change in the direction of the magnetic field is the last critical indicator of reaching interstellar space and that change of direction has not yet been observed.” So what happened? How did we get several reputable news sources reporting bad information? It would appear that the information was misinterpreted from a paper written by W.R. Webber, a researcher at New Mexico State University Department of Astronomy who has cosmic ray experiments on both Voyagers and the Pioneer 10 craft, and F.B. McDonald, a now deceased member of the University of Maryland Institute of Physical Science and Technology. In it, the two scientists describe how, at a distance of 121.7 AU from the Sun, the craft observed a sudden and sharp drop in the intensity of solar rays, and the opposite with galactic rays, on August 25th, 2012. This change is what scientists expected to see if the craft was leaving the heliopause. This region is the area directly around the Sun that essentially functions as the border of the Sun's magnetosphere. However, in order to be considered truly in interstellar space, the magnetic pull on the craft must reverse direction, signifying that it is no longer within the Sun's sphere of influence. NASA’s conclusion based on the available data is that Voyager is not yet out of the solar system, although it is getting to that point. It is like driving to the mountains, you don’t drive through flatlands and then suddenly find yourself looking straight up at a mountain. Instead, you’re going to drive through foothills first before finding yourself in the midst of towering peaks. The same concept is true of Voyager 1 leaving the Solar System. The image below is an illustration of where the two Voyager craft are located in relation to the Sun and the heliosphere. The inaccurate reporting of information is disappointing, especially since the story was reported on several news sites that I use myself. ... -JW For NASA's official statement, please visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-107 The original article by Dr. Webber and Dr. McDonald can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.10...eiuohb6d01a63f8 For the erroneous articles, go to: http://phys.org/news/2013-03-voyager-left-...den-cosmic.html http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002....50383/abstract http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/space/it...e-solar-system/ Image credit: NASA/ JPL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thanks Captain Buzzkill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 02:41 PM) link What does that actually mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Zelig Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 06:18 PM) What does that actually mean? The universe is expanding and every time that thing gets outside of it, the universe gets a little bigger and is like, "Uh-uh". Then the thing goes a little further and it happens again. This has been going back and forth for like a week now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 07:18 PM) What does that actually mean? That "Voyager has left the solar system" makes a good enough headline that people are finding lots of excuses to write it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanOfCorn Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 We have time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted April 2, 2013 Author Share Posted April 2, 2013 QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Apr 2, 2013 -> 09:56 AM) We have time. That's a common misconception. V'Ger was actually Voyager 6. Which, of course, never really existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanOfCorn Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 2, 2013 -> 10:08 AM) That's a common misconception. V'Ger was actually Voyager 6. Which, of course, never really existed. Buzzkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Apr 3, 2013 -> 11:08 AM) Buzzkill. Write your Congressperson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Have they discovered the mass relay yet on Charon? Or rather, that Charon is actually a frozen mass relay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 3, 2013 -> 01:45 PM) Have they discovered the mass relay yet on Charon? Or rather, that Charon is actually a frozen mass relay? Ok, I'll give, is this some sort of conspiracy thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 3, 2013 -> 12:57 PM) Ok, I'll give, is this some sort of conspiracy thing? I had to Google it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon)...popular_culture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 3, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) I had to Google it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon)...popular_culture ^^This But we gotta figure out FTL travel and fuel sources and other boring stuff like that first. The Protheans already figured that out, if we would find it on Mars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Bump. Now it's official. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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