Space 1977
Space probes Voyager One and Two are still operating after 40 years in the depths of space.
Voyager One and Two are still operating after 40 years in the depths of space. Voyager One is currently some 20 billion kilometres from Earth travelling at 15.5 kilometres a second. It takes 19 hours for a signal from the spacecraft's 20 watt transmitter to reach home. Voyager 2 is 17 billion kilometres away and will soon leave the Solar System.
Launched in 1977, the twin spacecrafts have explored the giant planets and their strange moons, investigated the boundary of the Solar System and changed how we see our place in the Universe. The probes even carry a message for aliens in the form of a golden record.
Retired Nasa astronaut Ron Garan meets many of the original team still working on the mission, nursing the twin spacecraft through their final years.
Photo: The Voyager 2 spacecraft passes by Saturn in 1981 Credit: Nasa
Last on
More episodes
Clips
-
The golden record: taking the sounds of Earth into space
Duration: 01:43
-
Voyager 1 at 40: An epic tour of the solar system
Duration: 09:10
Broadcasts
- Sun 20 Aug 2017 03:06GMT91热爆 World Service except News Internet
- Sun 20 Aug 2017 13:06GMT91热爆 World Service except News Internet
- Wed 23 Aug 2017 08:06GMT91热爆 World Service except News Internet
- Wed 23 Aug 2017 17:06GMT91热爆 World Service Australasia
- Wed 23 Aug 2017 23:06GMT91热爆 World Service except News Internet
Featured in...
Amazing long listens from 2017—The Documentary
A global sweep of some of the most powerful stories from the year