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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) | 122.905 | 101.569 | 119.882 | 144.812 | 43.647 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.945 | 11.240 | 15.337 | 16.975 | 14.060 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.520 | 2.371 | 3.235 | 3.581 | 2.966 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 55' | -8° 54' | -57° 43' | 12° 7' | -20° 27' | | Right ascension | 5h 9m | 18h 52m | 20h 2m | 17h 15m | 19h 13m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 122.557 | 102.247 | 120.503 | 145.065 | 44.388 | | One-way light time (hours) | 16.99 | 14.17 | 16.70 | 20.11 | 6.15 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.3 | -16.7 | -16.3 | -15.9 | -18.5 | | 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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