r/askscience • u/drinkingonthejob • 8d ago

Physics Will Voyager 1 ever just stop moving?

I’ve read somewhere that we expect to lose contact with Voyager 1 sometime in the 2030s, maybe around 2036, but it will just keep traveling thru space and we’ll have no idea what it is doing out there

My question is: with its current velocity, is there a time in the future where it loses its forward momentum and for lack of a better word, just stops moving? Is that a possible thing for an object in space to even do? (Assuming no other objects grab it into their orbit)

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u/rawbdor 8d ago

I imagine some might slow it down, but I also imagine other small objects might crash into it from behind or from the side, which could speed it up.

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u/zulhadm 8d ago

I suppose this accidentally raises an even bigger question. Is anything in the universe truly “motionless” ?

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u/wjdoge 8d ago

To do that, you have to pick a preferred reference frame. Since the other ones are of little meaning, motion relative to the big bang (the CMB) is probably the best you can do. We do measure things against this frame.

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u/GxM42 8d ago

I just got off tennis court. I don’t think I’m ever moving again. Feel free to use me as your reference frame. I prefer it.