nikholys solstek

March 22, 2011

where you going, Voyager?

"On March 8th, 2011, Voyager 1 was commanded to change its position to detect which direction the solar wind was traveling in. The space craft rotated 70 degrees counter clockwise to earth to detect the solar wind. This was the first time the spacecraft had done any major manuevering since the family potrait of the planets was taken back in 1990. The spacecraft will be manuevered again in the coming months to do more date retrival of the solar wind. The spacecraft after the first roll had no problem in reorienting itself with Alpha Centauri, Voyager 1's guide star. The spacecraft reoriented itself to begin sending transmissions back to earth. This is a major milestone in the voyager interstellar program. Voyager 2 is still detecting outward flow of solar wind but it is estimated that in the coming months or years it will experience the same conditions as Voyager 1. Voyager 1 did not change course and is still heading in the same direction, and the spacecraft is still quite manuverable despite over 30 long years in the solar system traveling at great speeds."