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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) | 125.275 | 103.784 | 122.873 | 148.180 | 46.421 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.934 | 11.224 | 15.326 | 16.966 | 13.973 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.517 | 2.368 | 3.233 | 3.579 | 2.948 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 57' | -8° 57' | -57° 58' | 12° 3' | -20° 27' | | Right ascension | 5h 9m | 18h 52m | 20h 2m | 17h 15m | 19h 13m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 124.623 | 104.656 | 123.625 | 148.689 | 47.343 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.27 | 14.51 | 17.14 | 20.61 | 6.56 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.2 | -16.6 | -16.3 | -15.8 | -18.4 | | 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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