Voyager 1

[moondoggy23]

In 1977, Voyager 1 was lunched by NASA into space to observe Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. In 1998, it became the most-distant man-made object in space from the planet Earth. Today, Voyager 1 has exited the heliosphere. The heliosphere is the point where solar winds change and become more turbulent, interacting with the "exterior" of our solar system and interstellar space. The Voyager team has said the satellite hasn't yet left the solar system, but has entered "a new region called 'the magnetic highway' where energetic particles changed dramatically." They go on to say that "a change in the direction of the magnetic field is the last critical indicator of reaching interstellar space and that change of direction has not yet been observed."

The Voyager 1 craft is only supposed to continue broadcasting until 2020, when its systems will be shut down. By 2025, NASA expects Voyager 1's power supply to be depleted.

 

[avroom]

I love all this space-exploring stuff. Keep up, NASA!

 

[Patchouli]

I feel like I agree with this comic. I remember them saying it left the solar system tons of times when it really didn't.

Is it finally actually going to now?

 

[moondoggy23]

I feel like I agree with this comic. I remember them saying it left the solar system tons of times when it really didn't.

Is it finally actually going to now?

Soon. The last step is for Voyager to leave our solar system's magnetic field, basically. How large that may be, I couldn't say off the top of my head. To be honest, where Voyage 1 is right now is pretty much outside of our solar system in terms of its location in relation to any other physical bodies within our solar system.
Here is an oddly simple (for NASA) diagram showing you Voyager 1's location in relation to our solar system:

 

[oozinator]

I feel like I agree with this comic. I remember them saying it left the solar system tons of times when it really didn't.

Is it finally actually going to now?

I'm guessing it's all about how various organizations, clubs, and agencies describe "solar system" differently.

If Voyager's systems weren't going to shut down, 20-50 years down the line we might get the same news again. This time, it'll be because Voyager 1 reached the Lagrangian point between our sun and another star or something like that.

All the differently timed announcements of the same Voyager's milestone makes me wonder if NASA is just having a slow news day. Maybe some NASA hipster-engineer sporting a "I was into unmanned space exploration before it was cool" shirt decided Curiosity shouldn't get all of the spotlight and spilled the story.

 

[moondoggy23]

Regardless of where in space Voyager 1 is in relation to our solar system and interstellar space, it is the only human-made object to make it this far from Earth. That is awesome.