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Spacecraft escaping the Solar System
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This page shows the current positions and other interesting data of the five spacecraft which are leaving the Solar System on escape trajectories - our first emissaries to the stars. On this scale, the nearest star to the Sun would be approximately 100 meters away, and it would take Voyager 1 about 70,000 years to cover that distance.
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View from 90° above ecliptic plane
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View from 10° above ecliptic plane
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| Pioneer 10 | Pioneer 11 | Voyager 2 | Voyager 1 | New Horizons | | Distance from Sun (AU) | 138.572 | 116.195 | 139.705 | 167.107 | 61.789 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.876 | 11.142 | 15.269 | 16.926 | 13.629 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.505 | 2.350 | 3.221 | 3.571 | 2.875 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 57' | -8° 47' | -59° 32' | 12° 25' | -20° 7' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 56m | 20h 10m | 17h 16m | 19h 20m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 139.517 | 115.506 | 139.210 | 166.322 | 61.136 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.34 | 16.01 | 19.30 | 23.05 | 8.47 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.0 | -16.4 | -16.0 | -15.6 | -17.7 | | Spacecraft still functioning? | no | no | yes | yes | yes | | Launch date | 1972-Mar-03 | 1973-Apr-06 | 1977-Aug-20 | 1977-Sep-05 | 2006-Jan-19 |
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