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Interstellar Mission

Voyager 1

Voyager 1 reached interstellar space in August 2012 and is the most distant human-made object in existence.

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Voyager 1 Foreground

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Sept. 5, 1977

Type

Flyby Spacecraft

Target

Interstellar Space

Status

Current

About the mission

Voyager 1 reached interstellar space in August 2012 and is the most distant human-made object in existence. Launched just shortly after its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2, in 1977, Voyager 1 explored the Jovian and Saturnian systems discovering new moons, active volcanoes and a wealth of data about the outer solar system.

Voyagers 1 and 2 were designed to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment that occurs only once in 176 years and remain the most well traveled spacecraft in history. Both spacecraft carry a sort of time capsule called the Golden Record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the story of our world to extraterrestrials.

Instruments

  • Imaging system
  • Infrared interferometer spectrometer
  • Ultraviolet spectrometer
  • Triaxial fluxgate magnetometer
  • Plasma spectrometer
  • Low-energy charged particles detectors
  • Cosmic Ray System (CRS)
  • Photopolarimeter System (PPS)
  • Plasma Wave System (PWS)

Mission Highlights

Sept. 1, 2013

September 2013: After intensive analysis, mission scientists determine that Voyager 1 reached interstellar space in August 2012.
Interstellar target graphic

Interactive 3D model of Voyager 1. View the full interactive experience at Eyes on the Solar System.

More about Solar System and Stars and Galaxies

News .

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Captures Video of Record Flight

Image .

Juno Skims the Cloud Tops of Jupiter

Event Aug. 18, 2022 .

Voyager – 45 Years in Space

Event July 21, 2022 .

Curiosity – A Decade on Mars

Event June 23, 2022 .

Spacecraft Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO)

News .

Engineers Investigating NASA’s Voyager 1 Telemetry Data

News .

NASA’s InSight Still Hunting Marsquakes as Power Levels Diminish

Event May 26, 2022 .

NuStar - Studying the Universe in X-Ray

News .

NASA Supports Event Horizon Telescope in Studying Milky Way’s Black Hole

News .

NASA to Provide Update on InSight Mars Lander

› Mission Website
› Fact Sheet
› JPL History
› Voyager 1 Information on Solar System Exploration
› NASA Mission Page
› Voyager 2 Information on National Space Science Data Center

Explore Other Missions

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