Humanity has been in space for 50 years: where are the spacecraft that go the furthest from Earth and what are they doing?

Since the Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972, humanity has been launching and whispering things into the depths of space for 50 years. We now have five spacecraft that have either reached the fringes of our Solar system or are rapidly approaching it: Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and New Horizons.

These space probes have survived much longer than their predicted lifetimes, and some have reached far beyond their original mission. Of course, these spacecraft were originally planned to explore planets in the Solar system, but now they’re trailing beyond our system and are still teaching scientists something new.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

Voyager missions celebrated 45 years of operation this year. These two spacecraft have greatly contributed to astronomers’ understanding of the Solar system, from the close transits of the outer planets to the exploration of humans’ furthest reaches in space. And they still have an important task: to discover where the influence of the Sun ends and the influence of other stars begins.

Voyager 2 crossed the heliopause in 2012, the boundary where the Sun’s particle flux ceases to be the most significant impact, in 2012, and Voyager 2 surpassed that point in 2018. “Voyager 1 has been in interstellar space for a decade now… and it’s still going, still going strong,” said Linda Spilker, Voyager project scientist and a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. used his statements.

The Voyagers have turned off some of their energy-consuming vehicles such as cameras, but they continue to collect data through sensors, and they even made a very important discovery. As you know, the Sun is constantly emitting magnetism and plasma around it. It was estimated that there were fewer particles from these plasmas in the outermost parts of our system. However, after the Voyagers crossed the heliopause, they encountered much denser plasma. Astronomers are still puzzled by this.

Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11

The Pioneer spacecraft occupies a special place in space history, as you might guess, for its pioneering role. Unfortunately, this landmark 50-year-old spacecraft is non-functional. Pioneer 10 lost contact in 2003 and Pioneer 11 has been silent since its last contact in 1995. But even when we are not in contact with them, they continue to advance in space.

New Horizons

Launched in 2006, New Horizons is the youngest member of this 5-person family. The spacecraft, which reported details of the dwarf planet Pluto in 2015, is moving away from the Solar system at a record speed and will reach the heliopause around 2040.

Not only did it complete its primary mission, but it also got a glimpse of the smaller Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth in 2019 as its first mission extension. Instead of leaving New Horizons in deep sleep, NASA assigned it a new mission on October 1. This mission is again about the Kuiper Belt. Meanwhile, New Horizons will hibernate until March 1, 2023, and then wake up.

How far are the spacecraft?

• New Horizons distance from Earth: 8.36 billion kilometers away. It is 7 hours 44 minutes away at the speed of light.
• Pioneer 11 distance from Earth: 16.47 billion kilometers away. It’s 15 hours and 15 minutes away at the speed of light.
• Pioneer 10’s distance from Earth: 19.6 billion kilometers (12.23 billion kilometers in 2003) away. It’s 18 hours 14 minutes away at the speed of light.
• Voyager 2’s distance from Earth: 19.88 billion kilometers away. It’s 18 hours 25 minutes away at the speed of light.
• Voyager 1’s distance from Earth: 23.82 billion kilometers away. It’s 22 hours and 4 minutes away at the speed of light.