NASA confirmed Friday that the probe launched in 1977 was now "in the cosmic ocean among the stars."
As the ship Star Trek , the U.S. probe Voyager 1 is now flying off the edge of the solar system, in the dark and cold (- 200 ° C) for a trip to the rest of the galaxy to last millions of years ... Information, long heralded as imminent, suddenly is formalized since NASA has announced , Friday, Sept. 13, by a sober and thunderous "It is done", launched by Ed Stone, head of mission in the U.S. space agency.
FIRST HUMAN OBJECT IN OUTER SPACE
According to measurements published by the scientific journal Science , confirmed by NASA, Voyager 1, launched in September 1977 with on board a range of sounds and images, would be thirty-six years later to nearly 21 billion kilometers Sun. Specifically, the probe is out of the border zone of the solar system, which is called "heliopause", to August 25, 2012, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.
"We have a Voyager instrument to measure the ion density, plasma around, says Ed Stone. In March 2012, there was a giant eruption of the sun finally reached Voyager 1 in April 2013 by then vibrate the plasma around the probe, creating oscillations according to a particular pattern which corresponds to the interstellar space ".
BETWEEN "HISTORIC STEP" AND SKEPTICISM
The announcement, of course, which delighted the scientific community, since, as said John Grunsfeld, head of NASA's science missions, it confirms "one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science. " It opens "a new era of exploration," said Ed Stone still, who does not hesitate to say, in a telephone press conference, that "humanity has taken a historic step in entering interstellar space "...
However, the information raises as much skepticism in the great family of astrophysicists, where many equate to a coup communication NASA astrophysicist and its flagship, now 77 years old.
Some believe that the limits of the solar system, for once, were never really clear, and it is not possible to declare as certainly they were taken. While for others, however, nothing new under the sun ... if you dare say the sensational information is not necessarily a new ... Two studies from other data, which was published last in August, had already arrived at the same conclusion without NASA at the time, had reacted. They have been based on the sudden significant decrease in particles from the solar system in the statements issued by Voyager 1, and a net increase of galactic radiation.
RUDIMENTARY TECHNOLOGY
The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 (which should also leave the solar system, around 2016) probes were launched in 1977, one month apart, in opposite directions. Their life was not to exceed five years, the time to reveal information about the two giant planets: Jupiter (passed in March 1979), and Saturn and its rings (taken in November 1980).
But they are still in good working condition, advancing more than 60,000 km / hour. Technologically, they have measurement instruments that now seem rudimentary. Their onboard computers have 240,000 times less memory than any iPhone. Their transmitter is also very limited: 23 watts of power does not exceed that of a lamp refrigerator ... And even if the battery has run out plutonium in the 2020s, nothing seems to stop their long journey.
It will nevertheless still time for traveling is in the vicinity of other stars: about 40 000 years. Such as Star Trek , it is indeed a very long journey in progress ...
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