Experience Inside Voyager 2: A Journey Through the Cosmic Void
Imagine yourself inside Voyager 2 as it races through the depths of space. It's a place of profound darkness, intense cold, and profound silence.
Current Status and Distance from the Sun
As noted by Paul Feist, Voyager 2, now 120 AU (Astronomical Units) from the Sun, is at a position that is average among the currently operating spacecraft leaving the Solar System (Voyager 1 at 144 AU, Pioneer 10 at 123 AU, and Pioneer 11 at 101 AU).
With an average of around 0.1 watts per square meter of energy from the Sun, the spacecraft are difficult to maintain long-term. For the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 operate at around 340 watts and Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 at 110 watts respectively.
The heat lost is estimated by the surface area of the main antennas, with a diameter of 2.74 meters for the Pioneers and 3.7 meters for the Voyagers. This translates to about 1.2 watts/m2 for the Voyagers and 7.1 watts/m2 for the Pioneers.
Temperature Calculations: Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law, the surface temperature of the Voyager 2 is estimated to be around 106 K (minus minus -46.4 degrees Celsius) and Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 around 69 K (minus 204.4 degrees Celsius).
Brightness and Visibility
The brightness conditions outside the spacecraft indeed create a chilling reality. The Sun, visible from Voyager 2 at an apparent magnitude of -16.34, is equivalent to about 7.2 lux, or three times the brightness of the full moon on Earth, at the beginning of civil twilight.
Stars are visible without the distant twinkle of Earth's atmosphere and the Sun shines as just another star in the night sky, far beyond the edge of the Solar System.
Conditions Inside the Spacecraft
Inside the spacecraft, it's extremely dark, with so little light that one must adjust to complete darkness to see most objects. The only warmth comes from the plutonium decay, generating a mere 340 watts for Voyager 2 and 110 watts for Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11.
The psychological impact is immense. Instruments are powered on and off in rotation, so they are dim and flicker with a steady rhythm. There is virtually no sound and almost no air, creating an intense sense of isolation.
Perception and Speed
Your life is too short to see the stars change perceptibly, and there is no reference point to perceive speed. Voyager 2 feels as though it's standing still in an endless void, no matter how fast it’s traveling.
The journey ahead is a solitary odyssey. It is a testament to human achievement that these machines continue to operate, but it also leaves a sense of unfinished business, potentially the last vestige of humanity billion years from now, still not having exited our galaxy.