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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) | 133.160 | 111.146 | 132.845 | 159.398 | 55.568 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.898 | 11.173 | 15.290 | 16.942 | 13.747 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.510 | 2.357 | 3.225 | 3.574 | 2.900 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 56' | -8° 52' | -58° 49' | 12° 15' | -20° 11' | | Right ascension | 5h 10m | 18h 55m | 20h 8m | 17h 17m | 19h 19m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 133.359 | 111.368 | 133.107 | 159.205 | 55.868 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.49 | 15.44 | 18.45 | 22.07 | 7.74 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.1 | -16.5 | -16.1 | -15.7 | -18.0 | | 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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