NASA launched the Voyager 1 Spacecraft in Sept 1977. It is now 15 billion miles from Earth and still sending data. Voyager 1 owns the distinction of being the first spacecraft to travel beyond the solar system and reach interstellar space – doing so in 2012. It is currently zipping through space at around 38,000 mph (17 kilometers per second), according to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That’s Washington DC to Los Angeles in 3.6 minutes

The Voyager missions took advantage of a special alignment of the outer planets that happens just once every 176 years. This alignment allows spacecraft to gravitationally “slingshot” from one planet to the next, making the most efficient use of their limited fuel. Recognizing that the Voyagers would eventually fly to interstellar space, NASA authorized the production of two Golden Records to be placed on board the spacecraft. Sounds ranging from whale calls to the music of Chuck Berry were placed on board, as well as spoken greetings in 55 languages.

Voyager 1 was the first (there is also a Voyager 2 spacecraft) to race by Jupiter and Saturn. The images Voyager 1 sent back have been used in schoolbooks and by many media outlets for a generation. To NASA’s surprise, in March 1979 Voyager 1 spotted a thin ring circling Jupiter planet. It found two new moons as well — Thebe and Metis. Additionally, Voyager 1 sent back detailed pictures of Jupiter’s big Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) as well as Amalthea…. at this point you might be asking how many moons Jupiter has… 80 discovered so far.

Like the Pioneer spacecraft before it, Voyager’s look at Jupiter’s moons revealed them to be active worlds of their own. And Voyager 1 made some intriguing discoveries about these natural satellites. For example, Io’s many volcanoes and mottled yellow-brown-orange surface showed that, like planets, moons can have active interiors. Additionally, Voyager 1 sent back photos of Europa showing a relatively smooth surface broken up by lines, hinting at ice and maybe even an ocean underneath. (Subsequent observations and analyses have revealed that Europa likely harbors a huge subsurface ocean of liquid water, which may even be able to support Earth-like life.)

One of most famous images sent back by Voyager 1 is the “Pale Blue Dot” image. It is a photograph of Earth taken Feb. 14, 1990, by NASA’s Voyager 1 at a distance of 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from the Sun. The image inspired the title of scientist Carl Sagan’s book, “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,” in which he wrote: “Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.”

Thought you’d like to know Voyager 1 is still “on the job.” Almost 48 years. Nice.

Sources: NASA and Space.com (Elizabeth Howell)