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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) | 139.807 | 117.347 | 141.273 | 168.867 | 63.204 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.872 | 11.136 | 15.264 | 16.923 | 13.605 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.504 | 2.349 | 3.220 | 3.570 | 2.870 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 1' | -9° 1' | -59° 31' | 12° 4' | -20° 20' | | Right ascension | 5h 14m | 18h 53m | 20h 5m | 17h 15m | 19h 15m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 138.917 | 117.965 | 141.708 | 169.612 | 63.784 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.26 | 16.35 | 19.64 | 23.51 | 8.84 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.0 | -16.4 | -15.9 | -15.6 | -17.7 | | 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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