Interstellar space probe to boldly go even further
NASA scientists to unveil planning for an interstellar space probe at the EGU General Assembly
Image credit: Johns Hopkins APL
A new interstellar space probe, currently in its planning phase, will boldly go where no probe has gone before according to a new paper due for presentation at this year’s European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly.
The NASA probe, currently dubbed the Interstellar Probe, will go further into interstellar space (the area of space between star systems) than the two Voyager spacecraft – the first probes ever to reach interstellar space in 2012 and 2018 – which were released more than thirty years ago.
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IMAGE: Scientists hope the proposed Interstellar Probe will teach us more about our home in the galaxy as well as how other stars in the galaxy interact with their interstellar neighbourhoods. view more
Credit: Johns Hopkins APL
MUNICH When the four-decades-old Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012 and 2018, respectively, scientists celebrated. These plucky spacecraft had already traveled 120 times the distance from the Earth to the sun to reach the boundary of the heliosphere, the bubble encompassing our solar system that s affected by the solar wind. The Voyagers discovered the edge of the bubble but left scientists with many questions about how our Sun interacts with the local interstellar medium. The twin Voyagers instruments provide limited data, leaving critical gaps in our understanding of this region.
In 2018, NASA announced that the Voyager 2 probe had joined the Voyager 1 probe in reaching interstellar space, an area of space outside the solar wind's grasp. This year, on April 17th, the space agency celebrated the New Horizons probe reaching 50 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, or 50 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Now, NASA plans to go even further.
Scientists hope Interstellar Probe will reveal secrets of the heliosphere upi.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from upi.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Expected to launch sometime in the early 2030s, the Interstellar Probe will study how our solar system interacts with the rest of space around it.
Scientists hope the proposed Interstellar Probe will teach us more about our home in the galaxy as well as how other stars in the galaxy interact with their interstellar neighborhoods. (Credit: John Hopkins APL)
(CN) Following the recent success of Perseverance, NASA’s Mars rover, the space agency is planning to explore beyond the reaches of our solar system with its next spacecraft called the Interstellar Probe.
The new spacecraft will carry on the legacy of the Voyager program, which launched two probes in 1977 to explore Earth’s neighboring planets.