Voyager Humanity's Farthest Journey

From NASA JPL marking the passage of the twin Voyager spacecraft beyond our solar system. We knew we were on a journey of discovery when we launched the Voyager spacecraft, but we had no idea how much there was to discover.

We had a sense that we knew what it felt like to be Magellan or Columbus.

Time after time we were surprised by seeing things that we had not expected or even imagined. From volcanoes erupting from the moon Io to the possibility of a liquid water ocean under the icy crust of Europa. Titan, where we found an atmosphere. Uranus' small moon Miranda, which had one of the most complex geologic surfaces we'd seen. Even at Neptune, Triton, 40 degrees above absolute zero, even there there were geysers erupting.

It's the only spacecraft that's gone by Uranus. It's the only spacecraft that's gone by Neptune. Everything we know about those planets we know from Voyager.

To see those first pictures coming in from the outer solar system, for the first time what had been a point of light in the sky was a place.

I really credit the people that designed the mission, both the engineers and the mission planners and scientists because not only did they build an extremely robust, durable spacecraft, but they had the vision to send it on a path such that it could get out into interstellar space and carry a gold record.

And here was this Noah's Ark of human culture that was being sent to the outer planets and then beyond to wander in the interstellar darkness for a billion years. On Valentine's Day 1990 Voyager 1 looked homeward. And what did it find? Not the frame-filling Apollo Earth, but, instead, that one-pixel Earth. That's here. That's home.

The Voyager spacecraft are in the outer layer of the heliosphere, the giant bubble the sun creates around itself with its supersonic wind. Voyager today is headed for the edge of interstellar space. That's the space between stars, and it's filled with material that has been injected by the explosion of stars,matter which came from a particular direction, creating a wind,which has shaped the bubble in which the solar system is surrounded.

Voyager really has changed our view of the solar system. This will be a milestone in space exploration: leaving the solar system,leaving the bubble and entering interstellar space for the first time.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Macca Levesque]

The Voyager record contains:

"This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. ”

— U.S. President Jimmy Carter

I read that as I heard Ann Druyan say "That's here. That's home." and I actually cried, yes partly because her voice is capable of evoking emotions but these two messages are just so touching isn't it? This is why we do science.

[Yankeeprepper]

MADE IN THE USA. 

[cameo24anand]

How aliens will read that description? :D

[trojanhorseforsale1]

There's description in the disk how to read ....NASA is not stupid like you.

[zah13isabignumber]

This video needs and DESERVES more views, a LOT more views.

[Staldren]

It is approximately 124 AU away from earth, in the heliosheath, probably reaching the heliopause, thats about 4 times the mean distance between the Sun and Pluto, there isn't a clear limit where interstellar space begins, so it is unknown when the Voyager 1 will enter it.

[Carol Coulson]

But I think it's a waste of money USA are in debt up to their eyeballs mainly to china and yet there getti g into more debt creating space mission the landed on moon and sent out the voyager but let's face it lol who else was trying

[Carol Coulson]

But not all by USA citizens

[durringtonatlive]

So when does voyager enter interstellar space? and where exactly is it now?

[cameo24anand]

Hoe aliens can read that?

[TheCraigy111]

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree with each other on that one

[Moby Dick]

Wrong. We still have to fight hard or risk becoming complacent and erode society from within. Every great empire collapses due to complacency. Every new generation needs to keep fighting, keep the competitive spirit alive so that we look beyond ruling the world and start thinking about another earth, how to stop asteroids colliiding into us, etc....we are on top but that's only on earth, we have to now concentrate on the universe.