Frank Cotolo
March 28, 2010

 

As all of our regular listeners know, we follow the progress of outer space travel closely on our show. So, it is no wonder we were alerted that the Voyager 1 spacecraft is on the verge of entering interstellar space, or as space officials call it, "Way, way, way out there land".

 

Project team members say Voyager 1, which went into space in 1977, will soon reach the outer layer of the solar system.

 

"That is where the Sun's influence ends," says V-team member Earl Lonnigan, "and where it becomes more difficult to see small objects. Plus, there is an electrified solar wind that slams into the thin expanse of gas between stars. Do you have any idea how loud that can get?"

 

But the ship still has a way to go before it becomes the first manmade object to reach what V-team head Ben Yakowitz calls, "so really far out there."

 

Voyager project scientist Henry Smack, says, "Voyager has entered the final lap on its trip to the edge of interstellar space, where it is hard to bump into anything. And, the ship will begin exploring deep space before the evil forces of aliens and their advanced weapons obliterate it. But that is just conjecture."

 

However, scientists admit they don't know the boundaries of the edge of space. They assume the edge moves and changes in the speed and intensity of the solar wind.

 

"Yes, it's true, we don't have a clue as to where the edge of the solar system might be. Maybe there is a big wall there and we will see it as Voyager gets closer."

 

The consensus of the team now is that Voyager 1 is 8.7-billion miles from the Sun and admit to being glad not to have sent a human on the trip.

 

"Lots of people think 'the solar wind' is an old Frank Sinatra song," says Smack, "but it is really a blast of charged particles constantly streaming from the Sun. Voyager 1 reports the solar wind speed, according to calculations, has decreased.

 

"And that means it is getting slower," says Yakowitz.