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Depends on how far it goes and if any other gravitational forces act on it along the way. Sometimes I wonder if the decision to turn Voyager around to produce
by rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
Depends on how far it goes and if any other gravitational forces act on it along the way.
Sometimes I wonder if the decision to turn Voyager around to produce the photo of the "pale blue dot" will someday end up fucking with aliens who couldn't imagine another species who would launch a deep space probe backwards.
- tinus_hn 9y agoReaistically once you go far enough the only things to see that you couldn't see before are behind you. There isn't much blocking the view of the distant objects (and we're never going to get a close-up of them) once you leave the earth's atmosphere so once you reach the edge of the solar system the only things that are interesting to look at are behind you.
- rm_-rf_slash 9y agoThat's a good point. It would be nice to have an actual photograph of our Oort Cloud, after all.
- Semiapies 9y agoPerhaps all intelligent species take star system selfies.
- Chaebixi 9y agoIIRC, Voyager's camera is on a movable arm. The probe itself has never "turned" and always has its antenna dish pointed at Earth. New Horizons had a different design and works more like you describe; where the whole probe has to turn to point the camera.