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DailyMail 6thAug2012

Voyager 1 passes two out of three 'key changes' for escaping solar system[/*]
• NASA expected to report on third vital test next month

On the same day NASA makes a historic encounter with Mars, one of Man's earliest rockets is setting it's own truly historic record.In the last week, Voyager 1, which floated into the heavens in 1977, has signalled it has passed two of the 'key changes' expected when it passes out of the furthest fringes of our solar system - a staggering 11,100,000,000 miles away.This is the furthest distance any man-made object has ever travelled - and on July 28th, it's long and arduous journey was broken by cosmic changes.


The probe is still detecting 'spikes' in the intensity of cosmic ray
electrons - which lead scientists to think it's still within the
'heliosheath', the very outer edge of our solar system.


The Voyager probe has been travelling towards the outer reaches of the
solar system since 1977 - it has enough batteries to last until 2020,
scientists estimate

The data received from the Voyager, which travels at ten miles a second, on July 28th showed a five per cent spike in the level of high-energy cosmic rays.

This implies the Voyager is moving out of the heliosheath - the 'protective bubble' around the solar system created from charged particles from the sun. On the same day, the level of lower-energy particles coming from within the solar system dropped by half.

However, over the next three days, these levels returned to their previous amounts, giving NASA scientists a small mystery to study while they await for more information.


For the past year, Voyager 1 used its instruments to explore the new
region. It appeared to be the cosmic doldrums where solar winds
streaming out from the sun at 1 million mph have dramatically eased


Voyager is now detecting the first traces of 'interstellar winds' - the signs it is finally reaching the edges of solar system

The third indicator that the Voyager is leaving the solar system is the direction of the magnetic field, and this is now being studied by NASA. Once all signals have been passed, NASA can confirm the Voyager is on to the final frontier, and they expect to provide a preliminary report on the magnetic fields next month.

Voyager project scientist Edward Stone said: 'These are thrilling times for the Voyager team as we try to understand the quickening pace of changes as Voyager 1 approaches the edge of interstellar space. 'We are certainly in a new region at the edge of the solar system where things are changing rapidly. But we are not yet able to say that Voyager 1 has entered interstellar space.'


Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977 to tour the outer planets including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

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At the edge of the solar system, Voyager 1 reports a sharp increase in cosmic rays...


By
Eddie Wrenn


PUBLISHED:

13:16, 6 August 2012





UPDATED:

10:59, 7 August 2012

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