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The VIM will be NASA's first encounter with deep space. It will travel through the Termination Shock and begin its exploration into the Heliosheath, ultimately in search of the Heliopause. The Termination Shock is where the million miles-an-hour solar winds slow to roughly a quarter that speed. This is the first indication that the sun's winds are beginning to lose strength to interstellar winds. Voyager 1 is expected to finish passage through the Termination Shock sometime in the next 2 years. The Heliosheath is an area still largely dominated by the Sun's rays, but the solar rays are expected to slow from supersonic speeds to subsonic speeds in this direction. Changes in plasma flow direction and magnetic field orientation will also occur in this region as a result of the stellar/interstellar wind interactions. The depth of the Heliosheath is unknown, and possibly tens of AU thick. The Heliopause is where the Sun's winds finally lose out to those of interstellar space and true interstellar travel begins. No man-made spacecraft has ever reached this far. The Voyager spacecraft will most likely be the first to do so, but due to waning energy from the plutonium-based power supply, power usage constraints may cause us to lose contact with the 2 Voyager spacecraft before they reach this area. |
