The First Craft to Reach Interstellar Space

We are not talking about Star Trek here folks. There is, in fact, a man-made object currently traversing through interstellar space. Voyager 2 launched in 1977 is currently thought to be well beyond our solar system and is the first man-made object to do so. Imagine having an electronic device that is, for the most part, operational after 42 years. This speaks volumes on the engineering and passion that went into this spacecraft. I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the team behind Voyager. I strongly feel that as a society we need to give our pioneering scientists and those that open new frontiers more credit. Currently, many remain the unsung heroes with athletes and celebrities taking the lions share of applause.

This post is in a sense a toast to those great people that make a lasting contribution towards the upliftment of humanity as a species. As for Voyager 2, after a technical glitch which shut down the spacecraft, I am happy to report that the spacecraft has come back online again and is continuing its study of interstellar space. However, with its thermonuclear power generator running low on juice Voyager 2 will not last forever. Overall very good show.

Voyager 2 Launch Vehicle

Photo Credit: By NASA/MSFC - http://nix.nasa.gov/info?id=MSFC-9141931http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/abstracts.php?p=912, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=791809