THE GEEK GETS DRESSED
Scientists recently announced
that Voyager 1 has moved
beyond the plasma bubble
surrounding our sun.
Interstellar space, as this
region is known, is uncharted
territory. The space probe’s
entry into interst ellar space is
regarded as one of the greatest
exploration achievements
of humankind, on par with
circumnavigating the globe
and taking a step on the Moon.
And all of this with technology
dating from the late 1970s.
To in?nity
and beyond!
150
million
km
The distance from the sun
to the Earth.
About
19 billion km
The distance of Voyager 1 from the sun, or
just over 11 million trips between Joburg
and Cape Town.
400 W: The amount of power needed to run the electronics and heaters
on board Voyager 1.
115 images and 55 languages: Recorded on the Golden
Records as a message from Earth to other life in outer space.
13 000 km/?: Fuel efficiency of a Voyager spacecraft.
30 000 years:
The time it will take Voyager 1 to reach the outer edge of
the Oort cloud, regarded as the official edge of our solar
system.
35 years:
The time it took Voyager 1 to reach interstellar space.
8 years:
The estimated remaining time before the last instrument
onboard Voyager 1 will be switched off. This means
Voyager 1 will have been sending data to Earth for 44
years, way longer than originally expected. [LP]
About 70 kb: The memory capacity of Voyager 1. A current-generation
smartphone typically has 240 000 times as much memory.
5 trillion bits: The total amount of data sent to Earth by the two
Voyager spacecrafts.
65 000: The number of parts
used to build Voyager 1.
17 hours: The time it takes for a signal from Voyager 1 to reach Earth.
Data is sent to Earth at about 160 bits/second.
2 000: The approximate
number of parts in a colour TV.
October 2013 | TechSmart
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