The probe was launched in 1977, but continues to transmit space-related data to a team of NASA scientists daily. Published November 14, 2026 November 14, 2026 NASA announced that its Voyager 1 probe will soon become humanity’s first object to travel within one light day of Earth. On Wednesday, the robotic space probe will reach the milestone of traveling at least 16 billion miles since its launch in 1977, a distance equal to one light day, or how far light can travel in 24 hours. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The probe completed its flyby of Saturn in 1980, the end of its primary planetary mission, and is currently traveling at approximately 36,000 miles per hour (58 km/h) in interstellar space, the great gap between the stars. NASA expects it to take 18,000 years to travel a full light year, and twice as long before approaching another. The plutonium-powered Voyager 1 was launched shortly before another probe, Voyager 2. Both continue to transmit data to Earth daily, including readings on the strength and direction of the magnetic field, as well as surrounding pressure, dust and galactic cosmic rays. Voyager 2 is expected to reach within a light day of Earth in 2035. Both are kept active by a small team of NASA engineers who send commands about once a week, and more if the probe runs into trouble. In October, the team briefly lost communication with Voyager 1, and they still haven’t figured out why. Voyager 1 project manager Suzanne Dodd described Voyager 1 as “a national treasure” and told The Associated Press news agency that the two probes’ activities are similar to those of weather satellites. The cultural impact of the probe has been significant. The famous photo of Earth’s “Pale Blue Dot” was taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. “All of us, everyone on Earth, have been impacted by these missions,” Bill Nye of the Planetary Society said in a statement. The famous photo of the “Pale Blue Dot” was taken by Voyager 1 as it moved away from Earth. [NASA]
