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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) | 123.931 | 102.528 | 121.176 | 146.270 | 44.850 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.940 | 11.233 | 15.332 | 16.971 | 14.021 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.519 | 2.370 | 3.234 | 3.580 | 2.958 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 57' | -8° 43' | -58° 24' | 12° 25' | -20° 28' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 50m | 20h 1m | 17h 13m | 19h 9m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 124.769 | 101.559 | 120.365 | 145.610 | 43.842 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.29 | 14.08 | 16.68 | 20.18 | 6.08 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.2 | -16.6 | -16.3 | -15.9 | -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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