12,867,872,400 Miles and Counting!

Forty years ago, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Their mission: Get the first up-close views of Jupiter and Saturn as they flew by the planets. By 1980 that mission was complete. But the twin satellites didn’t stop. They kept going, and going, and going . . . 

Now the satellites are racing to see how far they can go and what they can learn about our solar system before running out of power. “It was a four-year mission that’s completing its fourth decade,” says Suzanne Dodd,  Voyager’s project manager. “We’re trying to operate it so it can last as long as possible.”

Over the years, the satellites have captured never-before-seen views of all the outer planets. The data they gathered revealed active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io, Neptune’s great dark spot (a giant storm like Jupiter’s red spot), and much more. Today, the spacecraft are still speeding away from Earth and collecting data about their surroundings. “We should have a mission for another 8 to 10 years, assuming that all goes well,” says Dodd. 

Forty years ago, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft launched into space. Their mission was to fly by the planets Jupiter and Saturn. This was the first time we got an up-close view of them. By 1980 that mission was complete. But the satellites didn’t stop. They kept going, and going, and going. . .

Now the satellites are racing to see how far they can go. They will learn as much as they can about our solar system before they run out of power. “It was a four-year mission that’s completing its fourth decade,” says Suzanne Dodd. She's Voyager’s project manager. “We’re trying to operate it so it can last as long as possible,” she says.

The satellites have photographed of all the outer planets. The data they gathered taught us a lot about the solar system. They revealed active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io. They also discovered Neptune’s great dark spot, which is a giant storm like Jupiter’s red spot. Today, the spacecraft are still speeding away from Earth and collecting data about their surroundings. “We should have a mission for another 8 to 10 years, assuming that all goes well,” says Dodd.