THE modern generation have grown up with information about the cosmos as scientists learn more about intergalactic life by the day.
However, a lot of what we know so far can be accredited to the work of one probe called Voyager 1 – which has been carrying out space experiments since the 1970s. Here’s all you need to know.
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What is the Voyager 1 spacecraft?
Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977,
It is part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space.
The probe is equipped with television cameras, infrared and ultraviolet sensors, magnetometers, plasma detectors, and cosmic-ray and charged-particle sensors.
In addition, a spacecraft radio is used to conduct experiments.
Where is the Voyager 1 spacecraft now?
As of November 4, 2021, Voyager 1 is believed to be more than 14.4 billion miles from Earth, NASA reports.
Despite being having been in operation for 44 years plus, it still communicates with the Deep Space Network to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth.
It is is the most distant artificial object from Earth.
What is the Voyager 1 spacecraft’s purpose in space?
Voyager 1 was initially launched alongside it’s twin Voyager 2 to undertake experiments in space over a 5-year-period.
However, after successfully completing flybys by Jupiter and Saturn, it was tasked with an extended mission to locate and study the regions and boundaries of the our galaxy.
Voyager 1 eventually crossed the heliopause and entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012, making it the first spacecraft to do so.
NASA also claim the new data coming through is helping scientists understand the very nature of energy and radiation in space – potentially protecting future missions and astronauts.
They add that Voyager 1 also carries a special record – carrying greetings from over 55 languages, voices and music from Earth in case the probe ever encounters extra-terrestrial life.
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Will the Voyager 1 spacecraft ever return to Earth?
NASA have confirmed that the Voyager 1 spacecraft will never return to Earth.
The probe’s falling power supply means it will stop transmitting data by about 2025 and its mission will cease.
Experts believe it will take another 44,000 years before it will encounter another star – some 17.6 light-years from Earth.
“Voyager’s on its way to a close approach with it in about 40,000 years,” Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd,, said in 2013.
“It’s going to come within 1.7 light-years of this star — and it’ll swing by it, and it will continue to orbit around the center of our Milky Way galaxy.”
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