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What about voyager 2 lifetime ? Humanity hasn't sent any probe having an extra-solar system target since 1977?? If so, this is extremely sad and distant space e

What about voyager 2 lifetime ? Humanity hasn't sent any probe having an extra-solar system target since 1977?? If so, this is extremely sad and distant space exploration will die and 50 years will be lost. I attribute this mediocrity to the anti nuclear/RTG lobby at NASA

csunbird 5y ago
We haven’t sent another probe, not because of anti nuclear lobby, but because of there was an unique event of planets being nearly on a line around 1970, which allowed NASA to plot a series of gravity assists, instead of one or two, that allowed gaining immense amount of free velocity. Sun’s gravity well is so immense that escaping it requires a very, very large amount of energy. I am not sure if it could be done with conventional rockets with current technology, without multiple gravity assists. Edit: As the child comment says, it seems to be possible with current technology. It is very exciting!
- teraflop 5y ago
  > I am not sure if it could be done with conventional rockets with current technology, without multiple gravity assists. Yes, it can. New Horizons is escaping the solar system only a little bit slower than the Voyager probes, and it was already on an escape trajectory before its single Jupiter gravity assist.
  - throwaway894345 5y ago
    I wonder what hope we have for making probes that will last longer (i.e., “do science even deeper in space”) than Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons. Specifically, whether we can make RTGs or other power sources that last longer and/or scientific instruments that operate with lower power (without compromising on quality or quantity of observations). Maybe there just isn’t much science to do beyond the Kuiper Belt (or rather, getting 50 years beyond the Kuiper Belt doesn’t improve science much more than making the same observations from the KB itself due to the vastness of space)?
  - ProAm 5y ago
    New Horizons is quite a bit slower and will never overtake the Voyager probes distance wise.
- foobarian 5y ago
  I'm puzzled by the requirement for an alignment. It seems one could gravity assist in arbitrary directions though it might take longer. But should still end up with a similar energy gain.
  - Jeff_Brown 5y ago
    The gravity assist works by transferring some of the planet's momentum to the craft, and that momentum has a direction, not just an amount.
phist_mcgee 5y ago
Slow down with the over-dramatisation buddy. Nothing has been lost, interstellar exploration hasn't died, and I am not exactly sure why an anti-nuclear lobby at NASA has anything to do with either of these things.
phreeza 5y ago
The trajectory for the Voyager probes was made possible by the alignment of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A similar alignment will not occur again until the middle of the 22nd century.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  Handy coincidence that the last alignment happened just as our technology reached the point where we could take advantage of it.
Denvercoder9 5y ago
> Humanity hasn't sent any probe having an extra-solar system target since 1977?? The Voyagers didn't have an extrasolar target either, they were meant to visit the outer planets. If we're looking at probes that leave the solar system after their original mission, we launched New Horizons in 2006 to Pluto, and it's currently in the Kuiper Belt on its way to leave the solar system.
- fogihujy 5y ago
  Just to add to that: NH is on it's way out of the system now, after 15 years, and it should have another 15-20 years left in it's RTG. Meanwhile, there are actual interstellar probes being planned, in addition to several missions to the outer solar system (and which could end up in interstellar space afterwards). And there's a ton of missions planned for the inner regions of the Solar system -- space exploration is still a thing and there's a lot of exciting things happening.

csunbird 5y ago

We haven’t sent another probe, not because of anti nuclear lobby, but because of there was an unique event of planets being nearly on a line around 1970, which allowed NASA to plot a series of gravity assists, instead of one or two, that allowed gaining immense amount of free velocity. Sun’s gravity well is so immense that escaping it requires a very, very large amount of energy. I am not sure if it could be done with conventional rockets with current technology, without multiple gravity assists. Edit: As the child comment says, it seems to be possible with current technology. It is very exciting!

teraflop 5y ago
> I am not sure if it could be done with conventional rockets with current technology, without multiple gravity assists. Yes, it can. New Horizons is escaping the solar system only a little bit slower than the Voyager probes, and it was already on an escape trajectory before its single Jupiter gravity assist.
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  I wonder what hope we have for making probes that will last longer (i.e., “do science even deeper in space”) than Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons. Specifically, whether we can make RTGs or other power sources that last longer and/or scientific instruments that operate with lower power (without compromising on quality or quantity of observations). Maybe there just isn’t much science to do beyond the Kuiper Belt (or rather, getting 50 years beyond the Kuiper Belt doesn’t improve science much more than making the same observations from the KB itself due to the vastness of space)?
- ProAm 5y ago
  New Horizons is quite a bit slower and will never overtake the Voyager probes distance wise.
foobarian 5y ago
I'm puzzled by the requirement for an alignment. It seems one could gravity assist in arbitrary directions though it might take longer. But should still end up with a similar energy gain.
- Jeff_Brown 5y ago
  The gravity assist works by transferring some of the planet's momentum to the craft, and that momentum has a direction, not just an amount.

phist_mcgee 5y ago

Slow down with the over-dramatisation buddy. Nothing has been lost, interstellar exploration hasn't died, and I am not exactly sure why an anti-nuclear lobby at NASA has anything to do with either of these things.

phreeza 5y ago

The trajectory for the Voyager probes was made possible by the alignment of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A similar alignment will not occur again until the middle of the 22nd century.

throwawayboise 5y ago
Handy coincidence that the last alignment happened just as our technology reached the point where we could take advantage of it.

Denvercoder9 5y ago

> Humanity hasn't sent any probe having an extra-solar system target since 1977?? The Voyagers didn't have an extrasolar target either, they were meant to visit the outer planets. If we're looking at probes that leave the solar system after their original mission, we launched New Horizons in 2006 to Pluto, and it's currently in the Kuiper Belt on its way to leave the solar system.

fogihujy 5y ago
Just to add to that: NH is on it's way out of the system now, after 15 years, and it should have another 15-20 years left in it's RTG. Meanwhile, there are actual interstellar probes being planned, in addition to several missions to the outer solar system (and which could end up in interstellar space afterwards). And there's a ton of missions planned for the inner regions of the Solar system -- space exploration is still a thing and there's a lot of exciting things happening.