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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) | 134.961 | 112.826 | 135.126 | 161.962 | 57.642 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.891 | 11.163 | 15.283 | 16.936 | 13.705 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.508 | 2.355 | 3.224 | 3.573 | 2.891 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 0' | -9° 1' | -59° 1' | 12° 2' | -20° 22' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 53m | 20h 4m | 17h 15m | 19h 14m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 133.978 | 113.680 | 135.780 | 162.769 | 58.488 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.57 | 15.76 | 18.82 | 22.56 | 8.11 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.0 | -16.4 | -16.0 | -15.7 | -17.9 | | 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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