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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) | 124.356 | 102.925 | 121.712 | 146.874 | 45.347 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.938 | 11.230 | 15.330 | 16.970 | 14.006 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.518 | 2.369 | 3.234 | 3.580 | 2.955 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 0' | -8° 50' | -58° 23' | 12° 14' | -20° 36' | | Right ascension | 5h 13m | 18h 49m | 19h 58m | 17h 12m | 19h 5m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 124.291 | 102.594 | 121.356 | 146.974 | 44.955 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.23 | 14.22 | 16.82 | 20.37 | 6.23 | | 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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