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For sure. And if its is 'found' it sure beats me if all the information that was put on the craft could and will be 'interpreted'!
If you mean the information on the gold plaques, it's hard to say if the information would or could be 'interpreted' in a way to make sense to some ET finder. It would depend on the lifeform that finds it, as well as how far and how long the craft has traveled if it is ever found, and how much erosion has taken place to the craft. If the craft ends up being extremely distant (in both space and time) from the solar system, the plaques showing our location in relation to various stars could be very difficult to pinpoint taking into account that stars are always in motion and undergo positional change within the galaxy. For example, the stars in the constellations from our perspective on Earth are constantly changing, albeit extremely slow. But it is measurable. Over a period of millions or hundreds of millions of years, the view of the Big Dipper will look rather different than it does now. Just saying.
In the meantime, the spacecrafts would likely be pretty eroded from collisions from dust and cosmic particles during their journey. Exactly what condition the engravings on the plaques will be in the distant future is hard to guess, but it's possible the information will eventually become so obliterated by erosion from interstellar dust, small grains, and high energy particles grinding away at it to the point that little if anything of the engravings would remain visible or detectable.
There's another related problem as well. The distance between stars and other solar systems in the galaxy are, for the most part, very remote from each other. Considering the extremely small size of the spacecrafts in relation to the enormous vastness of space and diatances in the galaxy, it's pretty doubtful they would ever be found. I think there'd be better odds of winning the jackpot every time from every lottery that there has ever been than there would be of some lifeform finding the spacecrafts. It's possible, but the odds are extremely slim even if intelligent life was abundant in the galaxy. The spacecrafts aren't likely to run head-on into any stars, although you never know taking into account vastly long periods of time. Even if the crafts were aimed at a particular star, the crafts are traveling so slow as it is, that it would take a staggering amount of time just to get to the star's position. And since both spacecrafts are pretty much just drifting, by the time the crafts reached the position of the star (as we see it now) the star could well have changed position enough that the crafts might completely miss it. But it's still possible that the crafts could eventually collide with a star or a planet, or maybe end up in an orbit around some distant star. But that would be so far off in the future that I'm not sure there's be much of anything left of the crafts if they become severely eroded by that time
More likely they could eventually collide with a rocky object. It wouldn't take a big one to make a mess. It'd be great to think there might be a small chance for such a collision to leave the crafts intact (assuming the conditions were just right for a reasonable soft landing). But at the speed the crafts are traveling, and whatever speeds a rocky object is traveling at, such a collision could nearly vaporize the spacecrafts. If any fragments of the crafts remain, they could be very tiny (even microscopic) and widely scattered making fragments difficult to find and even harder to make sense of with regard to the original information engraved on the plaques. Below is a link about the Grail lunar probes that were intentionally impacted on the Moon's surface. The energy released by the collisions probably didn't leave much in the way of sizable debris from the probes. Twin NASA Probes Readying for Monday Moon Crash | GRAIL | Space.com
I think what you said: 'if it's found...' sums it up. That 'IF' is an extremely remote chance. At the present time we have no idea if there is any intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy. There might be, but we don't actually know if there is or not. We don't yet have any conclusive evidence that even bacterial life has ever formed elsewhere in our own solar system. If an intelligent form of life were to find either of the spacecrafts, I would think it might require a way to detect it in a way that shows the crafts as artificial objects, maybe by radio signals or energy from the power supply of the crafts. Eventually the crafts will use up all of their power supply and just end up being nothing more than silent objects drifting through deep interstellar space. In my opinion, that the plaques were included with the spacecrafts seems more of a vanity thing. No one else would hear it. We could've just as easily engraved "Kilroy Was Here" or "Where's Waldo?" on the crafts instead.
With how slow its going I suspect that before any other species finds it we will devlop technology that will allow us to travel faster and we will get it and put it in a museum.
With how slow its going I suspect that before any other species finds it we will devlop technology that will allow us to travel faster and we will get it and put it in a museum.
That's true, Voyager 1 and 2 are moving pretty slow, but slow is a relative term. The speed is about 35,000 mph. It will take them about 20,000 years to travel a distance of 1 light year. That's slower than the solar system is traveling around galaxy at about 497,096+ mph, and slower than the Earth travels around the Sun which is about 61,237+ mph. And it's much slower than the speed of light at about 186,000 mile per second. It's estimated that the spacecrafts will run out of power and fuel by about the year 2025 +/-. We will lose contact with them and they'll continue drifting. They will be much too far to go after. Get them and put them into a museum? LOL! Why? Their continued journey will be to serve as 'galactic greeting cards' from Earth. That's the purpose of the gold plaques and recordings --- in case they're ever discovered by some other form of intelligent life.
That's true, Voyager 1 and 2 are moving pretty slow, but slow is a relative term. The speed is about 35,000 mph. It will take them about 20,000 years to travel a distance of 1 light year. That's slower than the solar system is traveling around galaxy at about 497,096+ mph, and slower than the Earth travels around the Sun which is about 61,237+ mph. And it's much slower than the speed of light at about 186,000 mile per second. It's estimated that the spacecrafts will run out of power and fuel by about the year 2025 +/-. We will lose contact with them and they'll continue drifting. They will be much too far to go after. Get them and put them into a museum? LOL! Why? Their continued journey will be to serve as 'galactic greeting cards' from Earth. That's the purpose of the gold plaques and recordings --- in case they're ever discovered by some other form of intelligent life.
It is going so slow that in time we will have probes and ships that will serve as better ways to learn about the galaxy. Just like today while cars from 1910 are fun to drive they are not used because cars from 2013 are safer and faster etc. So in the next few decades I can see us saying this was a great start and putting it in a museum on Earth so everyone can see what we did in the 1970's to explore the galaxy.
Speaking of Voyager it looks like it has left the building err I mean galaxy.
This is from Science Daily:
Aug. 15, 2013 — Voyager 1 appears to have at long last left our solar system and entered interstellar space, says a University of Maryland-led team of researchers. Carrying Earthly greetings on a gold plated phonograph record and still-operational scientific instruments -- including the Low Energy Charged Particle detector designed, built and overseen, in part, by UMD's Space Physics Group -- NASA's Voyager 1 has traveled farther from Earth than any other human-made object. And now, these researchers say, it has begun the first exploration of our galaxy beyond the Sun's influence.
It is going so slow that in time we will have probes and ships that will serve as better ways to learn about the galaxy. Just like today while cars from 1910 are fun to drive they are not used because cars from 2013 are safer and faster etc. So in the next few decades I can see us saying this was a great start and putting it in a museum on Earth so everyone can see what we did in the 1970's to explore the galaxy.
Speaking of Voyager it looks like it has left the building err I mean galaxy.
This is from Science Daily:
Aug. 15, 2013 — Voyager 1 appears to have at long last left our solar system and entered interstellar space, says a University of Maryland-led team of researchers. Carrying Earthly greetings on a gold plated phonograph record and still-operational scientific instruments -- including the Low Energy Charged Particle detector designed, built and overseen, in part, by UMD's Space Physics Group -- NASA's Voyager 1 has traveled farther from Earth than any other human-made object. And now, these researchers say, it has begun the first exploration of our galaxy beyond the Sun's influence.
There's big difference between old cars and the Voyager spacecrafts. You don't have to go as far to find old cars . I can see your point in considering them as museum pieces, but it's still unreasonable. For one thing, if nothing else, they are memorial relics to drift through the galaxy for as long as they may last.
Some people do think that Voyager has indeed left the solar system (not the galaxy). It's not likely they'll ever leave the galaxy unless the collision between the Andromeda (M-31) galaxy and our Milky Way galaxy. In that event, it's possible the probes, assuming they still exist at that time, could potentially be flung out into intergalactic space depending on how the galaxies collide. However, there is still a considerable debate as to whether or not Voyager has actually left the solar system. Whether it has or not is unknown, but data is still streaming in from it, some of it pretty unexpected. We don't really know if it has left the solar system or not. This is all unexplored territory. It depends on defining what exactly marks the limit of the solar system and the entrance of interstellar space. At the very least, it's pretty close to the exit. Study refuels debate over whether Voyager 1 has left solar system - latimes.com
There's big difference between old cars and the Voyager spacecrafts. You don't have to go as far to find old cars . I can see your point in considering them as museum pieces, but it's still unreasonable. For one thing, if nothing else, they are memorial relics to drift through the galaxy for as long as they may last.
Some people do think that Voyager has indeed left the solar system (not the galaxy). It's not likely they'll ever leave the galaxy unless the collision between the Andromeda (M-31) galaxy and our Milky Way galaxy. In that event, it's possible the probes, assuming they still exist at that time, could potentially be flung out into intergalactic space depending on how the galaxies collide. However, there is still a considerable debate as to whether or not Voyager has actually left the solar system. Whether it has or not is unknown, but data is still streaming in from it, some of it pretty unexpected. We don't really know if it has left the solar system or not. This is all unexplored territory. It depends on defining what exactly marks the limit of the solar system and the entrance of interstellar space. At the very least, it's pretty close to the exit. Study refuels debate over whether Voyager 1 has left solar system - latimes.com
I was trying to be funny and I just looked lame. Yes I do know the difference between the solar system and the galaxy even though it did not come across that way.
As far is Voyager being a museum piece in the future. No one can say for sure but I do think that fate has a higher probability of happening then it actually finding life and being our first contact.
Last edited by Josseppie; 08-16-2013 at 02:51 PM..
I was trying to be funny and I just looked lame. Yes I do know the difference between the solar system and the galaxy even though it did not come across that way.
As far is Voyager being a museum piece in the future. No one can say for sure but I do think that fate has a higher probability of happening then it actually finding life and being our first contact.
I thought it was pretty funny and got a pretty good chuckle from it which is why I added the big grin smiley. Still, sometimes there are people who might be a bit new to learning about the cosmos. So, think of it as helpfully adding some correct information which benefits knowledge by unraveling any confusion. It can be a tough and complicated subject, but it's also a very fascinating subject. Most everyone of all ages are interested, one way or another, to know more about what's going on out there. While the Voyager spacecrafts contain pretty primative equipment compared to those in use today, they really have proven to be very important trail blazers, and still are. It'll come to an end soon enough when all of their power supply and hydrazine propellant has been completely used up. They're pretty much running on fumes as it is, most of their other equipment has already been turned off to conserve power for what's being used now. I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have.
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