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NASA's Voyager 1 Spacecraft Approaches Deep Space Milestone
DOGO News • • science
Key Points:
- Launched in 1977 with a planned five-year mission, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is still operational and has traveled over 15.8 billion miles, moving at about 38,000 miles per hour.
- Voyager 1 originally studied Jupiter and Saturn, sending back detailed data, and was later extended to explore deep space, crossing into interstellar space in 2012, beyond the influence of the Sun's energy.
- The spacecraft is set to become the first human-made object to reach one light-day from Earth, approximately 16 billion miles, on November 18, 2026.
- Due to diminishing power from its nuclear source, NASA has been shutting down some instruments to conserve energy, most recently the Low-Energy Charged Particles (LECP) instrument in April 2026, but Voyager 1 still operates two scientific instruments.
- NASA is exploring ways to extend Voyager 1’s operational life further, aiming to continue collecting valuable data from deep space for many more years.
