LOS ANGELES (December 3, 2012)--NASA's well-traveled Voyager 1
spacecraft is in a new region at the edge of the solar system
and is close to exiting it forever. Scientists call the region
the "magnetic highway" and say it's the last stop before
interstellar space, or the space between stars. The findings
were presented Monday at a meeting of the American Geophysical
Union meeting in San Francisco. Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2
launched 35 years ago on a tour of the outer planets. Afterward,
both spacecraft continued to hurtle toward the fringes of the
solar system. Mission chief scientist Ed Stone said it's unknown
when Voyager 1 will finally break through to interstellar space,
but once that happens, it'll be the first man-made object to
leave the solar system.