Originally Posted by Heston Veston:
“I can't find a reference but I think neither of the Voyagers is going fast enough to escape the galaxy. Even JPL's web site is vague on the matter, saying "The Voyagers are destined—perhaps eternally—to wander the Milky Way".”
Originally Posted by atg:
“I'd agree with that, no way will they have enough speed to escape the Galaxy, even if either of them were on an optimal path to do so. Does anybody know which directions they are heading in in relation to the galactic centre? I seem to recall they are moving in opposite directions.
The alternative is they get a lucky slingshot from a passing massive star at some point, in which case their fate is anybody's guess.”
It did indeed occur to me that the Voyager's might infact end up on nothing more than an eternal tour of the Milky Way rather than ultimately exit the galaxy at some point but I had no idea they would not have the ability to escape the Milky Way's gravitational pull. There is a website -
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/ that shows their current distance from Earth which at times has them actually getting slightly closer again, rather than on a constant distancing trajectory as logic for most people might dictate.