Voyager 1

Voyager 1


Voyager 1 is a space probe that has gone to the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond. Before leaving the solar system, Voyager 1 embarked on a multi-planet journey, flying by both Jupiter and Saturn. The space probe took some of the very first detailed images of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. On Jupiter’s moon Io, Voyager 1 discovered active volcanoes - the very first that had ever been seen on another world. Voyager 1 has a twin spacecraft named Voyager 2 that ventured through the solar system on a different route. In August 2012, NASA announced that Voyager 1 was the first space probe to reach interstellar space (the space between stars). Along with its instruments, Voyager 1 carries a golden record containing sounds of nature, music, different languages and 115 images representing the diversity of life on Earth. The golden record was curated by Carl Sagan and others in hopes of it one day reaching an extraterrestrial spacefaring civilization.


(top image: a close-up of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1, NASA/JPL-Caltech)