Sunday, May 22, 2005
This is a desk-top model of perhaps the most successful RTG powered spaceships to date, Voyagers 1 and 2. These ships were launched in 1977 and are still operating, thanks to their nuclear power plants. In their 28 years of flight the ships passed Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The ships are presently approaching the outer limit of the Heliosphere. They are likely to become the first ships to enter interstellar space in the next 10-20 years. (Click here for details of their mission.) Their RTGs can power them until 2020 to 2025. Budgets might end their mission before then, however. Although they only require about $4 million per year to operate, the Voyagers' continued funding is in doubt.
Labels: JPL Open House 2005
