The Voyager Twins - Looking at an alien sky!

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43 years ago, NASA launched 2 space probes, named Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, in consecutive months which became the 3rd and 4th man-made objects to ever cross the Heliosphere (the region within which the Sun's magnetic field is prominent). This sphere is stretched around 18 billion kilometers from the Sun. This sphere contains the magnetic field and the solar wind that protect the Solar System from Interstellar Wind. This protective sheath is called the Heliosheath.

We are not going to bother you with the details of the launch and the specifications of the space shuttle. We are here to talk only about the interesting facts and most importantly, The Golden Record.

1. Voyager 1 is the most distant man-made object from the Earth currently at 22.3 billion kilometers. It is traveling at 17 km/s which is greater than the escape velocity of the Earth.

2. If it stays on the same course as now, it would take about 40000 years (yes, you read that right. 40000 YEARS)for Voyager 1 to come within 14.97 trillion kilometers of the star AC+79 3888.

3. Voyager 2 was actually launched 16 days before Voyager 1. This was intentional as NASA new that Voyager 1 would take over Voyager 2 in terms of speed due to the gravitational advantage it would get from the alignment of the last 4 planets in the Solar System. This alignment occurs once in 175 years which was perfect to gain immense speed without having to use any extra thruster fuel.

4. In 296,000 years, Voyager 2 will come within 40 trillion kilometers of the brightest star in the sky, SIRIUS! But both these space probes have enough electrical energy to transmit information till the year 2025. Then it will silently and eternally float through the Milky Way until any other intelligent life comes in contact with it. You might wonder what would they find on the Voyager twins. 

They would find the Golden Record!!


The Golden Record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk that contains sounds and images of human life that would greet anyone that comes in contact with the Voyager twins. But how will they know where these probes are from, you might wonder? Here are the contents of the record

 - It contains 116 images and sounds of humans, animals, songs in 55 different languages!

- To help the extraterrestrial life in playing the record, instructions are printed on the record. When this record is played, there is a message from the Former US President Jimmy Carter!

- It contains the exact position of the Sun with respect to 14 different Pulsars. These pulses are marked in binary code based on its frequency.

 

Here is a video that clearly explains the plaques aboard the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 (the probes that reached interstellar space before the Voyager twins) and also the Golden Record aboard the Voyagers. He also mentions a song that is in the record that represents the feeling of loneliness that humans face. Check it out.

It is hard to imagine the vastness of the universe that we live in. But no matter the future of humanity or the Earth, there would always be a part of our civilization many many miles away stored perfectly safe that would say hello to alien life!

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