The Farthest Reach
Voyager 1 is the most distant human-made object in existence. Launched in September 1977, it conducted flybys of Jupiter (1979) and Saturn (1980) before being redirected on a trajectory out of the solar system. In August 2012, it became the first spacecraft to cross the heliopause — the boundary where the solar wind meets interstellar space — at a distance of roughly 121 AU from the Sun.
Still Talking After Almost 50 Years
Despite being over 25 billion km from Earth, Voyager 1 continues to return data via NASA's Deep Space Network. Signals travel at the speed of light but still take over 23 hours each way. The spacecraft is powered by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) producing around 220 watts — output has progressively declined, forcing mission controllers to shut down instruments. The last science instrument is expected to go offline around 2025–2030.
The Golden Record
Voyager 1 carries a gold-plated phonograph record containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life on Earth — greetings in 55 languages, music from Bach to Chuck Berry, and 115 images. It was designed as a time capsule and a message to any extraterrestrial civilisation that might encounter the spacecraft.