Voyagers In Space

It’s been exactly 30 years today since Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Saturn. Its sister ship, Voyager 2, followed closely behind. Curious where they are now?

Voyager 1, which was launched on Sept. 5, 1977, is currently about 17 billion kilometers (11 billion miles) away from the sun. It is the most distant spacecraft launched from Earth. Voyager 2, which was sent on its way on Aug. 20, 1977, is travelling at a distance of 14 billion kilometers (9 billion miles) from the sun.

Both craft have reached the outer regions of the Solar System and are still returning useful scientific data. (Where exactly we should consider the Solar System to end and interstellar space to begin is subject of scientific controversy. Some astronomers take the position that the solar system extends quite a bit further. If the Voyagers continue to radio back measurements, they might contribute to the debate).

The Voyagers were built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which continues to operate both spacecraft.

More Voyager information is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov .