How far can Voyager 1 travel before losing communication with us?
Tuesday, December 14, 2021 | Chimniii Desk
Key Highlights
- Voyager 1 is presently 19 billion kilometres from Earth and travelling at a speed of 61,000 kilometres per hour, 41 years later.
- Each day, the Deep Space Network spends many hours listening for feeble signals from Voyager 1, which has so far communicated with us.
- Voyager's distance from Earth increases the time required to broadcast and receive signals.
- Voyager 1 will continue on its trip eternally, and while technically there is no limit to the distance to which we may connect, we only have a few years remaining in our communication with Voyager 1.
- In approximately eight years, Voyager 1 will run out of electricity and will be unable to operate its equipment.
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Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 to research the outer solar system. The two Voyager space probes have established a new record for the longest-running spacecraft in history.
Voyager 1 is presently 19 billion kilometres from Earth and travelling at a speed of 61,000 kilometres per hour, 41 years later. Despite the fact that Voyager 1 is the farthest man-made object from Earth, we are still in regular contact with space probes.
However, how far can it go before we lose communication with it? To address this, we must first understand how Voyager 1 receives and sends data from a distance of 21 billion kilometres.
A radio signal of 20 kilowatts is relayed from Earth to Voyager 1 through radio waves. It takes around 20 hours for the signal to reach the space probe, where it is detected by its sensitive antenna.
By comparison, it takes an average of only 15 minutes for Mars rovers to transmit a message to Earth. Voyager transmits data to Earth through a 20-watt transmission. The signal's power diminishes as it travels through space. And by the time the signal reaches Earth, it is nearly undetectable.
To communicate with things thousands of miles distant, the strength of the signal is irrelevant as long as the receiver is sensitive enough to pick it up.
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NASA makes use of the Deep Space Network, which is comprised of three antenna complexes evenly placed around the globe. Each complex is comprised of a large 70-meter antenna and many 34-meter antennae that may be combined to pick up signals thousands of times weaker than those received by a regular FM radio.
Each day, the Deep Space Network spends many hours listening for feeble signals from Voyager 1, which has so far communicated with us.
Given how much our methods of signal detection have advanced over the last 50 years, there is truly no limit to the distances we can interact with things in space.
We can communicate reliably with things several light-years distant using existing technology, as long as our receivers are sensitive and accurate enough to pick up on extremely weak signals.
Voyager's distance from Earth increases the time required to broadcast and receive signals. Additionally, the signal strength drops and the data rate slows, making communication with the spaceship increasingly difficult.
Voyager 1 will continue on its trip eternally, and while technically there is no limit to the distance to which we may connect, we only have a few years remaining in our communication with Voyager 1. Due to the fact that Voyager 1 is fuelled by nuclear energy, its electrical power diminishes with each passing day.
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"pale blue dot" image taken by VoyagerIn 1990, following the famous "pale blue dot" image taken by Voyager, engineers shut off the spacecraft's camera, which displayed Earth as a small blue pixel against the darkness of space. Currently, only four of Voyager 1's eleven scientific instruments are operational.
These devices are being used to collect data on magnetic fields, solar winds, and extrasolar cosmic rays. In approximately eight years, Voyager 1 will run out of electricity and will be unable to operate its equipment.
Scientists will continue to connect with the space probe and get critical data until it transmits its final data and quietly vanishes into space, never to be seen or heard from again.
Therefore, even though the Voyager space probe's mission is drawing to a close, we can enjoy their extraordinary voyage and the invaluable knowledge they taught us.
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