The little guy did it. Voyager 1, “The Little Spacecraft That Could,” has. It has – officially – exited our Solar System.
“Big deal,” you say, “just look for the ‘Exit’ sign and leave.”
It’s not that close or that easy to see the boundary of our solar system. Sol, our sun, defines the solar system with the planets attracted to it and held in their circling places by the sun. The line we’re looking for is the edge of the solar system. Step over the line and you’re beyond the sun’s reach, the sun no longer influences your behavior, and you can do whatever you like without risk of a burn.
The problem is no man or man-made thing has ever crossed that line.
No longer.
The 12-person Voyager 1 staff has been analyzing the data sent back from the spacecraft. This is an interesting situation. Voyager 1 is no longer new technology. The little guy was launched on September 5th 1977. At that time, over 36 years ago, it was built with an 8-track tape recorder to store and play back information. The play-back is every six months. Since Voyager is roughly 11.7 billion miles from Earth, the transmitting signals take about 17 hours to get home to the team. That’s using a 23-watt transmitter, which is equivalent to a refrigerator light bulb. So, this is the image I see, a refrigerator light bulb almost 12 billion miles away in space blinking slowly in code to transmit 6-months of data.
Now, the team back here is tried and true, well experienced in their craft — the top voyager expert is now 77 and has been working on the project since 1972. But, the team was booted out of their fancy laboratory digs and sent to cramped quarters down the street. Follow me here. So, in concept, we now have a veteran and decorated team but with somewhat antiquated equipment in a noisy-neon strip center trying to pick up the signals from an 8-track recorder relayed by a refrigerator light bulb 12 billion miles away slowly trying to blink back six months of data. Then, the data itself must be converted, analyzed and interpreted. As you can imagine, this signal thing and line-in-space thing may take a while to sort out.
And, it has.
But, the data is in — finally.
Voyager 1 exited the Solar System last August 2012.
Old news is good news, and it certainly is.
Congratulations, Voyager 1!
Now, it’s just 40,000 years until Voyager 1 reaches another planetary system and can deliver its payload: “The Golden Record.”
That’s right, Voyager 1 has a real gold phonograph record packaged with a cartridge, needle and instructions how to build a record player. It doesn’t stop there. Once those aliens figure out their 8-tracks won’t work and finally slap that golden vinyl onto their newly built turntable, the music can begin: “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry, Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony,” and “Dark Was the Night” by Blind Willie Johnson. And, then the sounds: “Morse Code as heard by Ships” and “The Smack of a Kiss followed by a Mother Talking to a Baby,” to name just a few.
I love Voyager 1. I really do. I’m just wondering — thinking mind you — if the message is — maybe — just a little dated.
Oh well, it’s too late now. We’ll just have to wait another 40,000 years to get the cassette back from those aliens.
I wonder if, when we build our player and turn on the sound, we’ll hear this 80,000 years from now:
If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there
That’s not too bad.
It may be worth the wait.
Keep going, little guy.
I like your music.
Grandpa Jim
PS: Like the human race, Voyager 1 is persistent and makes do with what’s it got. You gotta love that spaceship. Go, little guy, were behind you. Far behind, but behind you, nevertheless. And, send a bark or two back from way out there to little Pluto. He remembers your passing and misses you much. It’s that way with little guys and gals, whatever their race.