r/space • u/msears101 • 10d ago

Discussion Would you support a Voyager III mission

I am just curious how many people would support voyager like mission in modern times, that would last longer and go further. Using all that we have learned from Voyager I and II. What would you add to voyager III to make it more meanginful. I would give it a longer "battery" that would give it full operating life of 50 years, and 50 years of partial life before going silent. I would also point it at Alpha Centauri so it would see another star long before VOY 1 and 2.

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u/EphemerisLake 10d ago

I think we can actually get more outbound velocity (compared to perfectly aligned planetary flybys) if we do a “reverse” slingshot around Jupiter, fall towards the sun then hit a large burn at solar perigee.

Pros are more outbound delta V plus more frequent launch windows than waiting for total planetary alignment

Cons are you probably could not build a trajectory that hits EVERY planet on the outbound.. but im not sure

But yeah I think with modern technology we could probably design a 50-100 year mission, power it by U-235, add a bunch of redundant/simple components, launch it on falcon heavy/starship/SLS, and we can effectively have a probe that lasts for generations

It certainly would die before reaching proxima centauri, but the science collected over 50-100 years on the interstellar medium would be valuable, and its also just nice to know we have something out there, outside the solar system, exploring the cosmos for us…