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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) | 138.916 | 116.517 | 140.142 | 167.598 | 62.184 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.875 | 11.140 | 15.268 | 16.925 | 13.622 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.505 | 2.350 | 3.221 | 3.570 | 2.874 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 59' | -8° 47' | -59° 44' | 12° 25' | -20° 11' | | Right ascension | 5h 14m | 18h 55m | 20h 8m | 17h 15m | 19h 18m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 139.818 | 115.531 | 139.346 | 166.880 | 61.168 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.38 | 16.01 | 19.32 | 23.13 | 8.48 | | 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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