After 40 years of service, the space probes "Voyager" is still in service

Almost 40 years ago, the spacecraft "Voyager-1 and Voyager-2" went on a journey, eventually becoming the farthest from Earth man-made space objects in the history of space research. In the framework of its missions both probe spent about two decades just to get to the two gas giants of our Solar system – Jupiter and Saturn. And while "Voyager-1" has decided not to stay in the system and immediately rushed to its outer limits, "Voyager 2" along the way has visited Uranus and Neptune, becoming the first space probe in history, who study these worlds.

At the end of this summer, the probes will celebrate the 40th anniversary since its launch on 20 August and 5 September respectively. Despite the fact that the spacecraft are flying for so long and are far away from home, they still maintain a connection with the aerospace Agency NASA, providing it with valuable information. So it's safe to say that besides the fact that they are the most distant spacecraft, "Voyager-1 and Voyager-2" performs the longest mission in the history of space exploration.

In Addition to duration and distance space missions, "the Voyager" can be attributed to many other achievements. For example, in 2012, "Voyager 1" became the first and only spacecraft reached interstellar space. In turn, the "Voyager-2" became the first and only probe that studied all four gas/ice giant in our Solar system – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

the launch of the space mission "Voyager-2". August 20, 1977

Merits of the devices can also be added the first discovery of active volcanoes beyond the Earth (on IO, a satellite of Jupiter), first evidence of the probable presence of a subsurface ocean on Europa, the confirmation of a dense atmosphere around Titan (the only planetary object beside the Earth with a dense and rich in nitrogen atmosphere), open rocky surface of a moon of Uranus Miranda, as well as ice geysers of Triton, the largest moon of Neptune.

All these discoveries brought to the astronomical community a huge favor and paved the way for the launch of new space missions: sending probe "Galileo" and "Juno", "Cassini-Huygens", and "New horizons".

"I believe that few missions will be able to achieve this level of scale, which have a mission Voyager, for nearly 40 years plowing the vastness of space. They opened the unknown to us the wonders of the Universe and inspire humanity to explore our Solar system and the cosmos beyond", — said Thomas Zurbuchen, head of the Directorate of scientific missions NASA in a recent press release.

But perhaps the most memorable missions around the "Voyagers" is that they carry on Board. On the casing of each of the spacecraft fixed so-called Golden plates, on which are recorded a collection of various earthly sounds, images, and messages with coordinates of the Earth and information about human history and culture. These records are a kind of "time capsules" and the bearers of a message for any advanced civilization that may meet on their way, about our existence.

Both "Voyager" launched in 1977 carry a 12-inch gold-plated record with images and sounds of Earth

As mentioned above, the devices still maintain a connection with the aerospace Agency NASA and gave him valuable scientific information. The probe "Voyager-1" at the time of this writing is about 20.9 billion kilometers (or 140 astronomical units) from Earth. In relation to the plane of the planets, the probe continues to move North into interstellar space and sends us information about cosmic radiation in interstellar space is four times denser than around the Earth.

From this, scientists have found that the heliosphere, the space, the planets of the Solar system and a solar wind, acts as a shield against external radiation. From a significant amount of solar wind protects us Earth's magnetic field (otherwise the wind just blew our atmosphere into space), and the space called heliopause, in turn, protects the planet's systems from atomic nuclei moving in space at a speed close to the speed of light.

At the same time, "Voyager 2" is at a distance of about 17.7 billion kilometers (114,3 astronomical units) from Earth. In relation to the plane of the planets it is moving South and is expected to enter interstellar space in a few years. As "Voyager 1", he also studies the interaction of the heliosphere with the surrounding interstellar medium, using a set of scientific tools by which it measures the level of charge of particles, magnetic fields, radio waves and solar wind plasma.

As soon As "Voyager-2" will be included in interstellar space, both of the probe will be able to simultaneously gather information about the interstellar medium in different areas. According to scientists, it can tell us about the magnetic environment, which protects our system, and might provide new data about the history of the formation of the Solar system. In addition, it will give us some idea of what dangers will be faced in the context of possible future missions into interstellar space.

the Illustration shows how a space telescope "Hubble" follows the paths of motion of the spacecraft "Voyager-1 and Voyager-2" in the framework of their journey through the Solar system into interstellar space

"the Fact that both tubes are still active after all these years – amazing fact", — said Edward stone, Professor of physics at Caltech and former Vice-President and Director of Laboratory of jet movement and coordinator of the program "Voyager".

"None of us, when we launched these probes, 40 years ago, even could not assume that after 40 years, they will continue to work and carry on this pioneering journey. It is possible that the most amazing opening them would be somewhere in five years. They can find something, the existence of which we could not even suspect".

Support the probes in working condition always remains for scientists a task, since the amount of energy they produce is reduced approximately to the level of 4 Watts every year. Managing probes-twins, constantly loses energy, it made today's engineers to resort to old patterns and drawings to better understand software features and command functions of ancient machines.

In addition, it also gave the opportunity to former NASA engineers who worked in the program "Voyager", to offer the younger generation their experience and expertise. The current command calculated that energy from the probes left up to 2030. However, even after this date they will continue their movement along the trajectory with a speed of 48 280 miles per hour, overcoming one astronomical unit every 126 days.

Space probe "Voyager-1" started the flight through the so-called "cosmic purgatory" — the space between our Solar system and interstellar space

At this rate, they will continue their journey until eventually after about 40 000 years will not reach the nearest star. According to forecasts, 225 million years, "the Voyager" will make a full orbit of the milky Way, unless, of course, during this time, with nothing to face. Therefore, it is possible that someday a Gold plate will find its destination. Again, someday they'll even be able to find their way home back to the Land, thereby informing our distant, very distant relatives about life in the 20th century.