Voyager Spacecraft Will Soon Enter Interstellar Space

After 33 years, NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft are still actively working – gathering information, communicating with Earth, (and

Tweeting

!), and they are about to go where no space probe has gone before: into interstellar space. Because of the unfamiliar nature of the heliosphere, and especially its outermost layer, the heliosheath, it is not known exactly when the Voyagers will actually reach the "great beyond."

"The heliosheath is 3 to 4 billion miles (4.8 to 6 billion km) in thickness," said Voyager Project Scientist, Ed Stone. "That means we'll be out within five years or so." The V'ger's Plutonium 238 heat source will keep the critical subsystems running through at least 2020, but after that, Stone says, "Voyager will become our silent ambassador to the stars."

This video features highlights of the Voyager journeys to the outer planets and the discoveries they have made, and shows where they are now and where they are headed.

More info on the Voyagers,

and

here, too.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com