The Voyagers

IIRC they only have radioactive material onboard to keep systems warm enough to function. all the fuel has been spent long ago. They are just adrift.

The voayger record maybe has a lifspam of one billion years...
And in nearly 100 Million years the voyager will reach a distance of 5000 lj. (Sagan, Drake Murmurs of Earth 1980)

I will tell you what i find interesting about the Voyager spacecraft.

We tossed them out into the depths of space and now they gone beyond Pluto. But ultimately, they will both end up being pulled back toward our Sun at some stage by Gravity. Hmmmmm.... Is that even correct i wonder? Does anyone know if the voyager spacecraft have enough velocity to actually exit out of our Sun's gravitational space and into the the gravitational pull of another star? Might take several thousand years to get to another star. I'm guessing they will eventually come back to us hundreds of years from now like a commet.

John.
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... We tossed them out into the depths of space and now they gone beyond Pluto. But ultimately, they will both end up being pulled back toward our Sun at some stage by Gravity. Hmmmmm.... Is that even correct i wonder? Does anyone know if the voyager spacecraft have enough velocity to actually exit out of our Sun's gravitational space and into the the gravitational pull of another star? Might take several thousand years to get to another star. ...

... We tossed them out into the depths of space and now they gone beyond Pluto. But ultimately, they will both end up being pulled back toward our Sun at some stage by Gravity. Hmmmmm.... Is that even correct i wonder? Does anyone know if the voyager spacecraft have enough velocity to actually exit out of our Sun's gravitational space and into the the gravitational pull of another star? Might take several thousand years to get to another star. ...

I believe that they are way beyond escape velocity for our solar system.

Even though they won't be coming back, it's a good few thousands of years a time before they drift past any other star systems.

A good question is whether the gold records attached to them might survive long enough to puzzle an ET discoverer...


Keep seaarchin',
Martin

Question: What is the "direction" (constellation and/or star) both VOYAGER 1 & 2 and the Pioneers are "aimed" for, at present.



Answer: Pioneer 10 is headed towards the constellation of Taurus (The Bull). It will take Pioneer over 2 million years to pass by one of the stars in the constellation.

Pioneer 11 is headed toward the constellation of Aquila (The Eagle), Northwest of the constellation of Sagittarius. Pioneer 11 may pass near one of the stars in the constellation in about 4 million years.

Voyager 1 is escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.5 AU per year, 35 degrees out of the ecliptic plane to the north, in the general direction of the Solar Apex (the direction of the Sun's motion relative to nearby stars). Voyager 1 will leave the solar system aiming toward the constellation Ophiuchus. In the year 40,272 AD, Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years of an obscure star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear or Little Dipper) called AC+79 3888.

Voyager 2 is also escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.1 AU per year, 48 degrees out of the ecliptic plane to the south toward the constellations of Sagitarrius and Pavo. In about 40,000 years, Voyager 2 will come within about 1.7 light years of a star called Ross 248, a small star in the constellation of Andromeda.

To view the constellations including their RA and DEC, go to http://www.heavens-above.com/constellations.asp and select from the list.

To get a graphical view and data on where the four spacecraft are and how fast they are traveling, go to http://www.heavens-above.com/solar-escape.asp

Gary,
Thanks for that info Gary! It is interesting to hear whats actually going to happen to them. So NASA do seem to think they have enough speed to escape our solar system and our Sun's gravity.

So 40,000 years from now, Voyager 1 will pass by its first star other than our Sun. I wonder will future generations here on earth ever know about the little spacecraft our generation launched out there? Will they know about our generation at all?

We "Think" we know a lot about past human history and past generations, but in reality, our knowledge of human history is very sketchy. I speculate that in 40,000 years, the future generations will know very little about us, and our little Voyager spacecraft we launched in the endless abyss of space. Will we be forgotten after the next big epidemic that hits humanity.

Thanks again Gary,
John.
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A good question is whether the gold records attached to them might survive long enough to puzzle an ET discoverer...

That was a fun read, thank you.

... http://www.space.com/13538-nasa-voyager-spacecraft-backup-thrusters.html
NASA's Faraway Voyager 2 Probe Switches to Backup Thrusters

The fact that the Voyagers have enough juice left to make that crossing is a tribute to the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) — otherwise known as teeny, tiny nuclear power plants — onboard. The RTGs are fueled by plutonium-238, which, at the time of launch, was predicted to be good enough to keep the ships going for 50 years. So far those projections are holding, with power expected to last until 2025.

Another fun read, thanks!