Space Crafts Launched In The Seventies Essay

, Research Paper

CURRENT EVENT

My current event article comes from the Internet. It is an article on the four major space crafts launched in the seventies. The Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager 1 and 2 are the ships located in space. This article came from www.currentsky.com/articles/explore/index.html. It talks about the space crafts and how they are further in space than any other satellite we have ever launched. Out of the four space crafts three of them are still operational and in contact with the Earth. The three functioning crafts have reached beyond the heliopause. The heliopause is the boundary where the outgoing solar wind meets the incoming plasma of the local interstellar medium. The crafts are so far out that the solar winds are less measurable than the effect of the interstellar winds. This is considered to be the “interface” between our solar system and the rest of Milky Way Galaxy. The solar system doesn’t stop there, it extends maybe even 2 light years further. This is the region of space composed of comets and ice balls known as the Oort Cloud. Millions and millions of comets and large clumps of frozen gas travel around the Oort Cloud to form a glowing sphere surrounding our solar system.

Pioneer 10- This craft was launched on March 2, 1972 and is approximately 10.5 billion km away from Earth. It is on route for the star Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull at about 12km/sec.

Pioneer 11- This craft was launched on April 5, 1973. Contact with this craft was lost in 1995 due to a loss of power on the space craft. It is drifting towards the constellation Aquila.

Voyager 1- This craft is nearly 11 billion km away from our great planet, and is the most distant man made object ever. It was launched on September 5, 1977 and is traveling at a rate of 18km/sec. It is on a direct route for a path that is tilted 35 degrees above the elliptic plane.

Voyager 2- it was launched August 20, 1977 and is moving at a speed of about 16km/sec. It is nearly about 6 billion km away from Earth. It is heading south of the elliptic plane at a 48 degree angle.

*** if site doesn’t work you can try http://currentsky.com/articles/explore/index.html