Voyager 1 NASA probe continues mission 48 years later

In its 48th birthday month, here’s everything to know about the cosmic journey of Voyager 1 and its twin probe, as well as how long NASA expects the aging spacecraft to operate in deep space.

For nearly five decades, NASA’s twin Voyager probes have plumbed the cosmos in search of answers to some of astronomy’s most perplexing mysteries about our solar system and its place in the wider universe.

And now, both of the pioneering spacecraft – which launched two weeks apart in the late-1970s into space – have officially turned 48 years old. Voyager 2 was the first to have its birthday in August, followed now by Voyager 1, which marked its anniversary early in September.

In their years among the stars, both of the trailblazing Voyager probes have continually defied expectations for their respective lifespans as they venture further and further into uncharted territory of outer space.

Here’s everything to know about the cosmic journey of Voyager 1 and it’s twin probe, as well as how long NASA expects the aging spacecraft to operate in deep space.

Voyager 1 marks 48 years in space

The twin Voyager probes were launched on separate dates in 1977 from Florida from what is now the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with the mission of exploring the outer solar system.

Contrary to its name, Voyager 2 was the first of the vehicles launched into space first Aug. 20 1977. Its twin probe, Voyager 1, then launched Sept. 5.

Though it was the second of the probes to get off the ground, Voyager 1 was on a faster route than its counterpart as it whizzed beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and overtook Voyager 2 by December of that year.

Voyager 1 has the distinction of being the farthest human-made object from Earth – a record it has maintained since 1998 when it bypassed NASA’s Jupiter-exploring Pioneer 10 probe.

What are the Voyager spacecraft? NASA’s historic twin probes launch in 1970s

Both Voyage Probes have spent nearly five decades traveling billions of miles away from Earth.

The Voyager program’s main mission was to explore the far reaches of our solar system. To that end, the spacecrafts have investigated all the giant planets of our outer solar system ‒ Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune ‒ as well as the planets’ magnetic fields and a combined 48 of their moons, NASA says.

The probes completed that portion of their respective journeys by 1989, after which NASA retooled their mission as an interstellar expedition – meaning one journeying beyond our solar system further into the Milky Way.

In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space, followed in 2018 by Voyager 2, according to NASA. To this day, the probes are the only spacecraft in history to operate outside of the heliosphere – the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the sun.

What’s on the golden record?

Should they encounter extraterrestrial life, both Voyager 1 and 2 also carry the famous “golden record,” functioning both as a time capsule and friendly Earthling greeting.

None other than famed American astronomer Carl Sagan chaired the committee tasked with selecting the contents of the message, contained on a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk. The phonograph records contain aspects that encapsulate life on Earth, such as samples of music from different cultures and eras, natural and man-made sounds from Earth, and electronic information encoded in analog form that an advanced civilization could convert into photographs.

Where are Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 now?

Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles away from Earth, traveling through the cosmos at more than 38,000 mph, according to NASA. Voyager 2, meanwhile, is whizzing at about 34,000 mph while 13 billion miles away.

The space agency provides an interactive three-dimensional diagram tracking both Voyager probes’ positions outside the solar system.

When will the Voyager program end?

Amazingly, NASA anticpates that both Voyager probes could continue to operate into the late 2020s.

Despite the decades-long mission, four of 11 science experiments remain active on the Voyager spacecraft.

Voyager 1 continues to communicate with and send data to the array of giant radio network antennas known as the Deep Space Network that also communicates with Voyager 2 – despite mounting difficulty in keeping both of the probes’ antennas pointed at Earth.

For instance, in May 2025, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the missions, successfully revived a set of thrusters aboard Voyager 1 that had been considered inoperable since 2004. The team wanted the thrusters available as backup to a set of active thrusters whose fuel tubes are experiencing a buildup of residue that could cause them to stop working as early as fall, NASA said in a May 14 press release.

Earlier in March, mission engineers turned off another of Voyager 2’s instruments in an effort to manage its gradually diminishing power supply.

“As time goes on, continued operations will become more challenging,” NASA explains on its Voyager mission webpage. “Additionally, unexpected anomalies could impact the mission’s functionality and longevity as they grow older.”

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com