In 1977, NASA launched two interstellar probes one after another, naming them "Voyager" 1 and 2. Now, 44 years have passed, and "Voyager" has also ushered in the end of its life. According to foreign media reports on June 23, NASA plans to start shutting down some of the instrume

In 1977, NASA launched two interstellar probes one after another, naming them "Voyager" 1 and 2. Now, 44 years have passed, and the "Voyager" has also ushered in the end of its life.

According to foreign media news on June 23, NASA plans to start shutting down some of the instruments on Voyager 1 and 2. At the same time, it announced that they have officially entered the final stage of their missions due to exhaustion of energy. After the news of

was released, it also aroused people's attention and heated discussion, because NASA originally carried information on earth civilization on them, which also made many people curious about the "travelers" who completed the mission. , where will they go after losing contact with the earth? Will they be discovered by alien civilization?

So, where is the final destination of the "travelers"?

It is reported that "Voyager 1" is currently located about 23.3 billion kilometers away from the earth, while its brother " Voyager 2 " is closer to the earth, about 19.3 billion kilometers. .

What is the concept? Even if they can still maintain contact with the earth, even if they transmit information back to the earth at the speed of light, it will take at least 18 hours. Therefore, it can be seen from here that NASA engineers want to communicate with this " It takes at least 2 days for the information to come back and forth with the "Traveler". During this period, because the "Traveler" has entered the final stage, you have to worry about whether they will suddenly malfunction and lose contact. .

As the farthest human probe, the "travelers" are currently at the edge of the solar system. However, some researchers believe that they have left the solar system, and many researchers do not agree.

This is because humans still have little understanding of the structure of the edge of the solar system. For example, there is an imaginary celestial body " Oort cloud ". Research believes that it is the remnant of the nebula when the solar system was born, surrounding the solar system. The radius range is at least about 1 light-year. If this is true, then it actually means that NASA's "travelers" will never be able to leave the solar system.

Of course, after they completely lose contact with the earth, they will not disintegrate directly in the universe, but will continue to float in the universe. In NASA's settings, they will fly towards the center of the galaxy , However, this may be a journey that will never be reached, because at the current speed of the "travelers", even if they reach the Proxima Centauri galaxy, which is the closest to the earth, it will be 74,000 years later.

Moreover, on their way to the center of the Milky Way, they will also pass through a large number of star systems . Therefore, it is not ruled out that one day in the future, they will be discovered by alien civilizations in the Milky Way and receive them. information above.

So, how likely is it that "travelers" will be discovered by alien civilization?

When NASA designed it, although at that time, humans were not sure how many planets there were in the solar system, and knew very little about the world outside the solar system, NASA scientists still believed that one day in the future, These interstellar probes can be discovered by alien civilizations.

Therefore, in designing "Travelers", they are specially equipped with a golden record that can store information for 1 billion years. It contains all relevant information about the earth and human civilization. It can be seen from this that NASA very much hopes to " Travelers" were discovered by aliens and responded to Earth.

However, although the "golden record" above will not expire due to exhaustion of energy, after 2025, as the "travelers" will completely lose contact with the earth, all their functions will be shut down, and no will be awakened again, which also means that the "travelers" at this time will be no different from the small celestial bodies floating around in the universe.

Unless one day, they are affected by gravity and fly into a certain star system, and there happens to be an alien civilization in this star system. They can intercept the "traveler" and at the same time decipher the code above, otherwise , the golden records carried by the "travelers" will most likely never be discovered by alien civilization.

Of course, it is precisely because of this uncertainty, coupled with the fact that galaxies in the universe are very far away from each other, that even if there are extraterrestrial civilizations, it is very difficult to communicate with each other. Therefore, humans want to use It is basically impossible for "travelers" to "establish diplomatic relations" with aliens.

This also means that many friends are worried that "travelers" will cause disasters to mankind. This is actually impossible. After all, if there is really an Oort cloud at the edge of the solar system, then, in another 10,000 years, "Voyager" can't fly out of the solar system, let alone fly into other star systems.

After ten thousand years, it is even possible that humans have already left the solar system. Therefore, even if an alien civilization does receive the golden record, it will not be able to find humans. Friends, what do you think?