Where are the Pioneer and Voyager space probes? Are they still operating? Is anybody listening to them?
Asked by: Chris Preston
Answer
These space probes are still operating though they are not providing scientific
information any longer. In fact NASA announced just recently that it was going to
try to make contact with Pioneer if the craft is still capable of sending
transmissions. Voyager 1 is now about 12 billion kilometers from earth and Pioneer
(actually Pioneer 10) is even farther away and heading towards the constellation
Taurus (though it won't get there any time soon!).
If you are interested in learning more about the status of these projects I would
refer you to the NASA website where all ongoing projects are listed:
'Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.'