Both are in interstellar space and the only spacecraft to operate beyond the heliosphere, the sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles that extends well beyond the orbit of Pluto.Īs the sole extensions of humanity outside the heliosphere’s protective bubble, the two probes are alone even on their cosmic treks as they travel in different directions. Voyager 1 is currently the farthest spacecraft from Earth at about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away, while Voyager 2 has traveled more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) from Earth. Now, the mission team is getting creative with its strategies for the power supply and instruments on both Voyager 1 and 2 to enable both probes to continue collecting valuable data as they explore uncharted interstellar territory. When the Voyager probes lifted off weeks apart in 1977, no one expected that the twin spacecraft would have their missions extended from four years to 45 years and counting.
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