Voyager 1 first human-made object to leave solar system

Doomsday101

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(CNN) -- At the edge of the heliosphere, you wouldn't know by looking whether you left the cradle of humanity behind and floated out into interstellar space. You would just see unfathomably empty space, no matter which side of the invisible line you were on.

But scientists now have strong evidence that NASA's Voyager 1 probe has crossed this important border, making history as the first human-made object to leave the heliosphere, the magnetic boundary separating the solar system's sun, planets and solar wind from the rest of the galaxy.

"In leaving the heliosphere and setting sail on the cosmic seas between the stars, Voyager has joined other historic journeys of exploration: The first circumnavigation of the Earth, the first steps on the Moon," said Ed Stone, chief scientist on the Voyager mission. "That's the kind of event this is, as we leave behind our solar bubble."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/tech/innovation/voyager-solar-system/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
 

Tabascocat

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I am surprised they can still communicate with it at all. Something that was sent out 36 years ago with limited technology and at that great distance, mind-boggling.
 

Denim Chicken

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It's actually debated where the Solar System ends and if Voyager had broke though back in July.
 

Rogah

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It's actually debated where the Solar System ends and if Voyager had broke though back in July.
Yeah I was about to say that we read this exact same story regarding this exact same vessel every other year or so. There is no standard definition regarding where the solar system ends so every couple of years, Voyager reaches some point which some group considers the boundary and so a press announcement is made.

Some people consider the Oort Cloud as the boundary of our Solar System, and Voyager won't get there for about another 10,000 years.
 
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