In the post-Voyager era of deep space flight, spacecraft propulsion designs feel like science fiction. Instead of using rockets and a thermonuclear generator to produce heat, we have things like solar sails, laser sails, and ion propulsion. These all take advantage of the vastness of space to create a slow-but-continuous acceleration that can get spacecraft moving at incredible speeds. Of course, even at incredible speeds it will still take decades to reach other stars, but compared to Voyager, it’s a step in the right direction. If you want to get to the outer solar system quickly, try the Heliopause Electrostatic...
The Sun is the driving force behind our planetary system. It’s energy warms our planet, drives weather and climate patterns, and fuels the aurorae that surround our magnetic poles. The Sun also has a much grander sphere of influence beyond the orbit of the Earth, stretching into the vast space between itself and the other members of the stellar neighbourhood. The charged particles that are released from the Sun, called the solar wind, stretch out to 120 Astronomical Units, about 18 Billion Km. The bubble of the Sun’s influence is known as the Heliosphere, though it is anything but a...
Voyager 1, launched way back in 1977, is still giving us Science, far away beyond the influence of the Sun. In the past few years, the spacecraft has passed the boundary between the Solar System and the Interstellar Medium, the so called Heliopause. This has given scientists the first ever direct look at the Space between stars. Since then, Voyager has felt some interesting shock waves, which are being referred to as ‘Tsunami Waves.’ When the Sun emits a Coronal Mass Ejection, the charged particles travel through the Solar System as a pressure wave. When this wave hits the Heliopause...
