Voyager 1 NASA probe continues mission 48 years later

---

In its forty eighth birthday month, this is the whole lot to know in regards to the cosmic journey of Voyager 1 and its twin probe, in addition to how lengthy NASA expects the ageing spacecraft to function in deep house.

For almost 5 many years, NASA’s twin Voyager probes have plumbed the cosmos looking for solutions to a few of astronomy’s most perplexing mysteries about our photo voltaic system and its place within the wider universe.

And now, each of the pioneering spacecraft – which launched two weeks aside within the late-Seventies into house – have formally turned 48 years outdated. Voyager 2 was the primary to have its birthday in August, adopted now by Voyager 1, which marked its anniversary early in September.

In their years among the many stars, each of the trailblazing Voyager probes have frequently defied expectations for his or her respective lifespans as they enterprise additional and additional into uncharted territory of outer house.

Here’s the whole lot to know in regards to the cosmic journey of Voyager 1 and it is twin probe, in addition to how lengthy NASA expects the ageing spacecraft to function in deep house.

Voyager 1 marks 48 years in house

The twin Voyager probes had been launched on separate dates in 1977 from Florida from what’s now the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with the mission of exploring the outer solar system.

Contrary to its title, Voyager 2 was the primary of the automobiles launched into house first Aug. 20 1977. Its twin probe, Voyager 1, then launched Sept. 5.

Though it was the second of the probes to get off the bottom, Voyager 1 was on a quicker route than its counterpart because it whizzed past the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and overtook Voyager 2 by December of that 12 months.

Voyager 1 has the excellence of being the farthest human-made object from Earth – a file it has maintained since 1998 when it bypassed NASA’s Jupiter-exploring Pioneer 10 probe.

What are the Voyager spacecraft? NASA’s historic twin probes launch in Seventies

Both Voyage Probes have spent almost 5 many years touring billions of miles away from Earth.

The Voyager program’s important mission was to discover the far reaches of our photo voltaic system. To that finish, the spacecrafts have investigated all the enormous planets of our outer photo voltaic system ‒ Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune ‒ in addition to the planets’ magnetic fields and a mixed 48 of their moons, NASA says.

The probes accomplished that portion of their respective journeys by 1989, after which NASA retooled their mission as an interstellar expedition – which means one journeying past our photo voltaic system additional into the Milky Way.

In 2012, Voyager 1 grew to become the primary spacecraft to succeed in interstellar house, adopted in 2018 by Voyager 2, according to NASA. To this present day, the probes are the one spacecraft in historical past to function exterior of the heliosphere – the protecting bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the solar.

What’s on the golden file?

Should they encounter extraterrestrial life, each Voyager 1 and a couple of additionally carry the well-known “golden record,” functioning each as a time capsule and pleasant Earthling greeting.

None aside from famed American astronomer Carl Sagan chaired the committee tasked with deciding on the contents of the message, contained on a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk. The phonograph data comprise elements that encapsulate life on Earth, corresponding to samples of music from completely different cultures and eras, pure and man-made sounds from Earth, and digital info encoded in analog kind that a sophisticated civilization may convert into photographs.

Where are Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 now?

Voyager 1 is greater than 15 billion miles away from Earth, touring by the cosmos at greater than 38,000 mph, in accordance with NASA. Voyager 2, in the meantime, is whizzing at about 34,000 mph whereas 13 billion miles away.

The house company gives an interactive three-dimensional diagram monitoring each Voyager probes’ positions exterior the photo voltaic system.

When will the Voyager program finish?

Amazingly, NASA anticpates that each Voyager probes could continue to operate into the late 2020s.

Despite the decades-long mission, 4 of 11 science experiments remain active on the Voyager spacecraft.

Voyager 1 continues to speak with and ship information to the array of big radio community antennas often known as the Deep Space Network that additionally communicates with Voyager 2 – regardless of mounting issue in holding each of the probes’ antennas pointed at Earth.

For occasion, in May 2025, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the missions, efficiently revived a set of thrusters aboard Voyager 1 that had been thought of inoperable since 2004. The staff wished the thrusters out there as backup to a set of energetic thrusters whose gasoline tubes are experiencing a buildup of residue that might trigger them to cease working as early as fall, NASA stated in a May 14 press release.

Earlier in March, mission engineers turned off one other of Voyager 2’s devices in an effort to handle its regularly diminishing energy provide.

“As time goes on, continued operations will become more challenging,” NASA explains on its Voyager mission webpage. “Additionally, unexpected anomalies could impact the mission’s functionality and longevity as they grow older.”

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com