'Traveler No. 1': the next station Little Ursa
"Travelers 1" is NASA's fastest and farthest probe to date, and whether it can fly out of the solar system is a matter of concern.
Recently, NASA official website released news that on November 28, US time, scientists successfully enabled the traveler a number of sleep on a set of track correction thruster, to help adjust the attitude of the detector.This will enable travelers 1 "extended its service period by two to three years, would this give the traveler a step closer to the goal of flying out of the solar system?
Just entered interstellar space
After its launch in 1977, 'Travelers 1' has been making inroads into space, and for the past 40 years 'Traveler 1' has flown 21 billion kilometers, equivalent to 140 times the Earth's distance from the Sun.
If the orbit of the eight major planets of the solar system is the boundary, 'Traveler 1' has long been out of the solar system.Also scientists have suggested that the solar wind particles play the role of the last area as the solar system boundary.Where this boundary is measured, it is' travelers 1. "After repeated measurements and model deductions, NASA announced in September 2013 that 'Travelers 1' detected a drastic drop in the solar wind particle concentration and entered the interstellar space.
But for astronomers, the more widely accepted range of the solar system is the gravitational pull of the Sun. Using this as a standard, 'Traveler 1' measures only a tiny part of the solar system, and astronomers generally consider the remote Oort cloud It is the last area where the sun's gravity plays a role, and flying at least 30,000 years at this target of flying at current flight speeds.
Energy system life is limited
So can we see the moment when Traveler 1 flies out of the solar system? Unfortunately, this wish can never be achieved.
Aerospace experts Pang Hao said that scientists will be based on the detection of the target location, for the detector to select the driving energy. 'General detection targets Located within the orbit of Mars within the detector using solar energy as the light in these areas sufficient; detection targets located outside the Mars exploration Nuclear energy is used as the energy source.
Pioneer Hao said that after the detector has completed its acceleration, it needs very little energy at the required orbital flight phase, and its energy is mainly used to adjust the posture of the aircraft and Earth Communications. "For example, when communicating with Earth, align the detector antenna with the Earth.
Nonetheless, Travelers' No. 1 radioisotope thermoelectric generator can only support decades.Pong said that "Travelers 1" will turn off the magnetic field and particle detection equipment by 2020, leaving only the UV detection Equipment continues to work. "We will not be able to receive scientific data from Travelers after 2025, and the return of engineering data will continue for several years." Even if a newly started propeller extends its service life Two or three years, but only a fraction of tens of thousands of years of flight time .After the loss of contact with Earth, humans will not know the whereabouts of 'traveler 1'.
Can carry more fuel, allowing the probe to stay in touch with the Earth for a longer time? 'Each exploration mission budget is limited, carrying more fuel will inevitably occupy the task budget.' Pang Hao said that even in accordance with the current The technical level, with enough detectors to fly 30,000 years of fuel, is still an incredible thing.
'The objects in outer space of the solar system are sparse. It is very unlikely that' Voyager 1 'encounters and probes with other celestial bodies and is unlikely to send back too much scientific data so raising the budget and carrying more fuel does not It's too economical unless there are new and disruptive new technologies in the future, "said Pang Hao.
Hand in hand with the four detectors flying out of the solar system
Losing contact with Earth does not mean the end of the journey to 'traveler number one.'
Gao Jian, an associate professor of astronomy at Beijing Normal University, said that there are many founders of detectors that have completed their mission: staying on the landed planets such as 'curiosity'; self-destructives such as Cassini; in space Continue flying, such as 'Pioneer 10'.
'Voyager 1' has the same options as 'Pioneer 10.' After running out of fuel, 'Voyager 1' will continue to fly in the final orbital direction under inertia unless it meets the quality Enough to make it change the orbit of the object, or hit other objects destroyed. 'But this may not be large.'
The journey to 'traveler 1' is not without any hindrance, and the interstellar space is not an absolute vacuum, and the detector can encounter interstellar particles anytime.Gao Jian said that in the collision with these particles, the detector will move very slowly Lower.In addition, the small bound of the sun's gravitation will let it slow down gradually.
According to Newton's mechanics, objects reaching the speed of the Third Universe will be able to get rid of the sun's gravitational bound and fly out of the solar system. In 1980, Travelers 1 probed Saturn's system and accelerated it with Saturn's gravitational slingshot. After the probe ended on November 20 of that year, its speed has surpassed the speed of the Third Universe, which means that after losing contact with Earth, Travelers No. 1 will still fly back and forth beyond the solar system. And it has the same goal, there are Travelers 2, Pioneer 10 and other four detectors.
The velocity of 'traveler 1' in the solar system's outer space may provide a clue to the distribution of the material in this area. "Ping Jin Song, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences's National Astronomical Observatory, said that in the 1990s, data monitoring showed that" Traveler No. 1 "was abnormal Accelerate the Phenomenon. Scientists guess whether there is an unknown celestial body attracting detectors, though eventually instrument Calibration angle to find the answer. 'At present the detector has entered the open space of the solar system, scientists are very interested in whether there will be a similar situation, and how to explain such situations.' Ping Jinsong said that our scientists plan to receive 'travelers 1 "satellite radio wave carrier signal back to analyze and monitor the detector speed, acceleration changes. 'No one knows what will happen, after all,' 1 traveler 'has entered the human exploration of the blank area.'
At present, Travelers No. 1 is flying off the solar system at a rate of 500 million kilometers a year, and it is estimated that it will fly near a star in Ursa in 40272. And every day it is flying, it is creating mankind New record of the detector.
Source: Science and Technology Daily
