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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) | 128.042 | 106.368 | 126.369 | 152.115 | 49.644 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.921 | 11.205 | 15.313 | 16.957 | 13.884 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.515 | 2.364 | 3.230 | 3.577 | 2.929 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 56' | -8° 52' | -58° 18' | 12° 11' | -20° 18' | | Right ascension | 5h 9m | 18h 54m | 20h 5m | 17h 16m | 19h 17m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 127.978 | 106.825 | 126.819 | 152.135 | 50.174 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.74 | 14.81 | 17.58 | 21.09 | 6.95 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.2 | -16.6 | -16.2 | -15.8 | -18.2 | | 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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