Voyager Program
Discover amazing facts about the Voyager spacecraft, the incredible robots that explored the outer planets and are now traveling beyond our solar system
Voyager 1 and 2 are identical spacecraft that have traveled farther from Earth than any other human-made objects
The Voyager program sent two incredible robot explorers on the longest journey ever attempted by humans! Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 launched in 1977 to take advantage of a rare alignment of the outer planets that only happens every 175 years. This special arrangement allowed the spacecraft to use the gravity of each planet as a slingshot to speed up and reach the next planet, like playing cosmic pinball. Both Voyagers are about the size of a small car and are powered by nuclear batteries that will keep them running until about 2025.
The Voyagers made amazing discoveries at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune that completely changed our understanding of the outer solar system. They found active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, discovered that Saturn's rings are made of countless individual particles, and revealed that Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system. Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune! The missions discovered 23 new moons and showed us that the outer planets are much more interesting and dynamic than anyone expected.
Now both Voyager spacecraft are traveling beyond our solar system into interstellar space - the region between the stars! Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the solar system in 2012, and Voyager 2 followed in 2018. Each spacecraft carries a special "Golden Record" containing sounds, music, and images from Earth, including greetings in 55 languages, just in case any aliens ever find them. Even though they're now over 14 billion miles away, we can still communicate with both Voyagers!
