The MIT Voyager Plasma Science Experiment

On 1 November 1996, Voyager 2 was 4.665 billion miles from Earth, well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Voyager 2 is leaving the solar system at 36,000 miles per hour, which is 3.2 Astronomical Units per year, or 1 light year per 18,600 years.

On the same date, the light travel time from Voyager 2 to Earth was 7 hours, 35 seconds. Data are returned from the spacecraft at 160 bits per second, using a transmitter with about 25 watts (!) of power.

Solar wind data measured by VOYAGER 2 up through May 13, 1997

Go to the NASA JPL Voyager Project Home Page

Go to the MIT Space Plasma Group Home Page

Go to the MIT Home Page

For more information contact John Richardson at MIT (e-mail: jdr@space.mit.edu).