Voyager

Interstellar Messengers

active Mission
Voyager 1 and the solar system with orbits

Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 are the only spacecraft ever to operate outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun. Voyager 1 reached the interstellar boundary in 2012, while Voyager 2 (traveling slower and in a different direction than its twin) reached it in 2018.

Mission Type

Multiple Flybys

launch

1977

Science Targets

Outer Solar System, Interstellar Space

Status

Extended Mission

Featured

  1. 01

    The Interstellar Mission

    After completing the first in-depth reconnaissance of the outer planets, the twin Voyagers are on a new mission to chart the edge of interstellar space.

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  2. 02

    The Golden Record

    The contents of the golden record were selected for NASA by a committee led by Carl Sagan of Cornell University.

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  3. 03

    The Spacecraft

    The twin Voyagers are escaping our solar system in different directions at more than 3 astronomical units (AU) a year.

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A 3D model of NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft.
NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)

The Pale Blue Dot

The behind-the-scenes story of the making of Voyager 1's iconic image of Earth as "a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

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Earth as a tiny bluish dot suspended in a grainy beam of light.
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