Voyager 1 nears a one light-day milestone, redefining humanity’s cosmic reach.
Photo Credit: NASA Science
THIS YEAR, NASA’S Voyager 1, a space probe launched in 1977, will become the first ever spacecraft to reach a distance of one light-day from our planet; in other words, an unbelievable 25.9 billion kilometres away. Nearly 50 years after its departure from Earth, Voyager 1, one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements in aerospace engineering, is now so far away that any messages sent to it will take a full 24 hours to reach it at the speed of light, with another 24 hours required for a response.
A 24-hour delay … even at the speed of light
“If I send a command and say, ‘good morning, Voyager 1,’ at 8 a.m. on a Monday, I will receive Voyager 1’s response on Wednesday morning at around 8 a.m.,” said Suzy Dodd, the Voyager project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
According to Dodd, the incredible distance between us and the probe means signals take much longer to arrive, and require multiple antenna arrays to collect since they become weaker along the way. NASA’s probes transmit data at roughly the speed of dial-up internet, only 160 bits per second.
The slow process means that quick fixes are not possible if anything is to go awry with any of the probes. However, the probes were built to be intelligent, with technology that can put them in a “safe state,” waiting until NASA is able to communicate with it, figure out what the problem is, and resolve the issue. Last year, due to the 24-hour delay, it took weeks to resolve one of Voyager 1’s technical issues.
Voyager 1 hurtles through space at astonishing speed
As far as physicists know, nothing can move faster than the speed of light (299,337 kilometres per second) in the vacuum of space. While Voyager 1 does not move anywhere near the speed of light, it will not lose any races any time soon, currently moving at an impressive 17.7 kilometres per second.
After 49 years venturing into the stars at a jaw-dropping speed, on November 15, 2026, the spacecraft will officially be one light-day from Earth. This achievement will not only be a testament to the robust engineering of Voyager 1, but a tribute to the power of human curiosity, tenacity, ambition, and scientific exploration.
The unfathomable vastness of space, versus human curiosity and determination
However, Voyager 1 is a constant reminder of how unfathomably colossal space is; for reference, one light year equates to roughly 9 trillion kilometres. NASA’s fastest spacecraft, Apollo 10, reached a yet-unmatched speed of 40,233 kilometres per hour in 1969. Still, even at these speeds, it would take Apollo 10 five months to reach the Sun from the Earth, a distance of 147.16 million kilometres.
Voyager 1, in order to reach only the halfway point to Proxima Centauri, our nearest star neighbour, would need nearly 40,000 years. For now, travelling these vast distances remains but a dream.
Two sister probes, launching before the Internet, mobile phones, and Star Wars
Voyager 1’s journey began in the late 1970s, a time before personal computers and mobile phones were popularised, before the Internet, and mere months after the first Star Wars film was released. The probe had a unique opportunity to explore Jupiter and Saturn after the two planets, along with Neptune, lined up in a way that only occurs approximately once every 175 years. The alignment made it possible for NASA’s spacecraft to visit every planet, gaining momentum from gravitational pulls, much like a slingshot.
The trailblazing space probe explored Jupiter and Saturn in 1979 and 1980, respectively, and was able to gather groundbreaking data from the journey. Its sister probe also launched in 1977, Voyager 2, became the first and only spacecraft so far to visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Since its launch, Voyager 1 has not only visited these distant gas giants, but has also crossed the threshold for interstellar space (the expansive region between stars within a galaxy) and continuously sets the bar for the furthest-travelling human-made object.
Voyager 1 set to run out of juice in 2030s … but its legacy will continue
If all goes as planned, NASA should still be communicating with the probe by November 15 of this year when it reaches the one light-day threshold. However, aerospace engineers know that Voyager 1’s days (or rather, light-days) are dwindling: even if the probe doesn’t experience any more technical issues, its three generators will run out of power sometime in the 2030s.
Until then, the space probe continues on its brave journey, reminding engineers at NASA – and indeed all of humankind – of the wonders, discoveries, and unfathomable vastness of the cosmos.
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