Voyager 2: Still Moving Through Space

34 years ago, Voyager 2 launched into space, and now it is more than twice as far away from Earth as Pluto, but how long does it take to communicate with a craft that far away? It’s about a day. Maybe not as fast as email, but pretty good for being 9 billion miles out. The spacecraft, operating on 270 Watts, is so far out in space that it is in the outer reaches of the influence of our sun.  It also carries a disc for whoever or whatever may receive it. If this craft doesn’t collide with another object there is always the chance that it could keep going and be picked up by another civilization. Manned space missions move forward as a new crew was successfully launched from Kazakhstan up to International Space Station.  Also, don’t miss what’s in the night sky this week. All this and more on this week’s Sky Talk.[audio: st20111121.mp3]