Spacecraft hits final frontier

Published on 05/12/2012 01:39

A US spacecraft launched in 1977 has reached the final frontier at the edge of the Solar System.

Scientists say Voyager 1 has entered a “new region” of the Solar System, which could be its gateway to interstellar space.

The border region is described as a “magnetic highway” for outgoing charged particles from the sun and incoming 
particles from the stars.

“Although Voyager 1 still is inside the sun’s environment, we now can taste what it’s like on the outside because the particles are zipping in and out on this magnetic highway,” said project scientist Dr Edward Stone, from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.