The Fate Of Voyager 1 Who Sails Space Alone

JAKARTA - The Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched in 1977. Since then Voyager 1 has become a man-made spacecraft that is still roaming the universe.

Launching Popular Science, since Voyager 1 was first launched, it has never returned to Earth, it is getting away from the sun. However, astronomers reveal that Voyager 1 is still sending its data to Earth today.

Voyager 1 spacecraft has a speed of 17 kilometers per second. Per year, Voyager 1 travels 3.5 AU (the distance from Earth and Sun). Scientists designed Voyager 1 to find the boundaries of the solar system.

In addition, Voyager 1 has a mission to find a border area called heliopausa. A region where the solar wind weakens simply to withstand the interstellar medium.

Astrophysicist from the University of Iowa, Bill Kurth explained that no one knows where the heliopause is. Some scientists think the helipause is at 10 or 5 AU. The scientists predicted that it was still far away, in fact the heliopause was 120 AU away.

In August 2012, Voyager 1 successfully crossed the border known as the heliopause after three decades away from Earth. In his journey through space, the area through which Voyager 1 passes is a lonely area. Every year, Voyager 1 sends information about dust and plasma. Voyager 1 has also experienced shocks in 2012 and 2014.

This shock is a magnetic spike accompanied by an explosion of electrons, causing the electric field to oscillate strongly. Kurth revealed that the shaking is the effect farthest from the sun and exits across the heliopause.

Voyager 1 is still moving through the depths of space. This proves that the spacecraft still provides data to scientists even though it is 13 billion away from Earth.

Even so, Voyager 1's lifespan is coming to an end. This is because driving the vehicle generator called Plutonium-238 can no longer sustain Voyager 1's survival.

Kurth himself hopes that Voyager 1's lifespan can be extended until it is able to last until 2027. Because that year, Voyager 1 will be 50 years old since it was first launched.