WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Have the Voyager Spacecraft Taught Us?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's episode is a

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<v Speaker 1>classic from our previous host, Christian Sager. This one was

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<v Speaker 1>written and recorded right after the Voyager one spacecraft entered

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<v Speaker 1>interstellar space, so the team wanted to talk about what

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<v Speaker 1>this amazing craft has done for us so far and

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<v Speaker 1>what it might still do in the future. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Sager. On September five, nine seventy seven, NASA's

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<v Speaker 1>historic Voyager one mission launched, joining its identical robotic twin,

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<v Speaker 1>Voyager two, on what would turn out to be a

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<v Speaker 1>forty year odyssey through the Solar System and into interstellar space.

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<v Speaker 1>Voyager two had launched more than two weeks earlier, on

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<v Speaker 1>August nine, and both spacecraft completed the dazzling grand tour

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<v Speaker 1>of the outer Solar systems planets. Voyager one has now

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<v Speaker 1>left our Son's heliosphere, becoming a bona fide interstellar probe

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<v Speaker 1>and the most distant human made vehicle, and Voyager two

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<v Speaker 1>is about to flirt with the outermost boundary of the

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<v Speaker 1>heliosphere the Helio Pause. But exploring interstellar space wasn't a

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<v Speaker 1>mission objective back in nineteen seventy seven. Back then, the

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<v Speaker 1>Twin Probes aim was to reveal the rich diversity and

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<v Speaker 1>mystery of the outer Solar System's planets. For Ed Stone,

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<v Speaker 1>who has been project scientist for the Voyagers since nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy two, his favorite memory was the jaw dropping discovery

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<v Speaker 1>of volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io in nineteen seventy nine.

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<v Speaker 1>He said the eruptions on Io were the first direct

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<v Speaker 1>evidence of active volcanoes elsewhere in the Solar System, and

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<v Speaker 1>he wasn't wrong. Both Voyager one and two changed our

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<v Speaker 1>perspective of our Solar System, revealing never before seeing details

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<v Speaker 1>in planetary atmospheres and revealing new discoveries about interplanetary space.

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<v Speaker 1>New insights to Saturn's beautiful rings were gleaned, and a

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<v Speaker 1>huge diversity of moons swarming around the gas giants was revealed.

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<v Speaker 1>There are few more visceral science impacts on society than

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<v Speaker 1>when in n Voyager one was commanded to turn around

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<v Speaker 1>and capture an image of Earth from nearly four billion

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<v Speaker 1>miles or six point four billion kilometers distant. This was

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<v Speaker 1>at the request of Superstar astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan.

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<v Speaker 1>In an interview with space dot com, Stone estimated that

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<v Speaker 1>both spacecraft only have about ten years supply of power

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<v Speaker 1>left before the plutonium heat output dwindles to levels that

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<v Speaker 1>won't sustain any spacecraft instrumentation or critical subsystems. Though the

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<v Speaker 1>Voyagers will eventually die, they continue to take data, and

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<v Speaker 1>Voyager one is taking measurements of a very alien region,

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<v Speaker 1>the interstellar medium. On August two thousand and twelve, NASA

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<v Speaker 1>confirmed that Voyager one had officially left the heliosphere, speeding

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<v Speaker 1>into interstellar space. Voyager two is traveling in a different

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<v Speaker 1>direction and has an encountered interstellar space. Yet the mysterious

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<v Speaker 1>outermost regions of the Solar System have now been probed,

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<v Speaker 1>and Voyager one was able to take measurements of the

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<v Speaker 1>magnetic field and particle energies, important measurements that have allowed

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<v Speaker 1>scientists a very privileged view of how our Son's magnetic

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<v Speaker 1>field and solar wind particles interact with the space between

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<v Speaker 1>the stars. So, after four decades of exploration, two spacecraft

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<v Speaker 1>built from nineteen seventies technology are still exploring and a

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<v Speaker 1>new generation of scientists are using them to carry out

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<v Speaker 1>cutting edge research in a region of space that no

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<v Speaker 1>other robot that we know of has ever experienced. Even

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<v Speaker 1>after their power supplies dwindle and the Voyagers lose communication

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<v Speaker 1>with Earth, they will be silent interstellar emissaries for humanity,

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<v Speaker 1>carrying the Golden Records as shrines of the civilization that

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<v Speaker 1>built these incredible machines should an extraterrestrial intelligence stumble upon

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<v Speaker 1>them and the eons to come. Since this episode aired,

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<v Speaker 1>Voyager two has also entered interstellar space, and both craft

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<v Speaker 1>have several systems still operational. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Ian O'Neill and produced by Dylan Fagan and Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other far reaching topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts in my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.