By November 13, 2026, Voyager 1 will reach a distance where its radio signals take a full light-day to travel between the spacecraft and Earth. At that point, Voyager 1 will be more than 25 billion kilometers away, deep in interstellar space beyond the Sun’s heliosphere. Every command sent from Earth and every packet of data returned will complete a 24-hour one-way journey through space.
This milestone highlights the true scale of the solar system and humanity’s farthest exploration. Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause in 2012, becoming the first spacecraft to directly sample the interstellar medium. From this region, it measures cosmic rays, plasma density, and magnetic fields unaffected by the Sun, providing unique insight into the galactic environment surrounding our star.
Reaching a light-day distance is not just symbolic. It marks a regime where communication delays rival planetary timescales, underscoring both the durability of 1970s technology and the vastness separating Earth from interstellar space.
Source
NASA, Voyager Mission, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Astrophysical Journal, Nature Astronomy
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