Since the beginning of the space age, many probes have been sent off into space and some of these have left the Solar System and embarked on a voyage to the stars. It is possible however that these probes will not reach the stars. There has been a high interest in retriving these deep space probes and so they may end up in human museams rather than, as was once throught, alien museams.
The four earilest and most well known probes are:
Of the four most well known probes, so far only two have been recoverd. These are Pioneer 11 and Voyager I. Since the probes batteries ran down long ago and so we can't detect them, they are not easy to find. Voyager II has been located but no one has been to fetch it yet.
The biggest prize is Pioneer 10, the first man made object the leave our Solar System. So far, it is 'the one that got away'. We are still looking though and there will be a huge amount of interest when it is finally found.
Although there is a great interest in bringing home these probes and other deep space probes, some people believe they should be left to their original interstellar travels. Although two probes have been brought back, if their dispute wins, then Voyager II and Pioneer 10 may finally one day reach the stars.
Some people are even requesting that the probes already brought back to be returned but this has been turned down. Now they've come home, they're here to stay since putting them back where we found them a giving them a push isn't quite the same as if they'd never been touched.
Becuase of this response Voyager II is being kept an eye on but will be left until a ship is actually going in that direction. As for Pioneer 10, we will keep looking in the hope of at least finding it. However many people belive she is lost but the search continues...
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