Voyager 1 to reach unprecedented one light-day distance from Earth
The spacecraft will be more than 25.9 billion kilometres away from Earth on Wednesday, making signals take 24 hours to arrive.
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is expected to reach a distance of one light-day from Earth on Wednesday, November 18, according to reports from Mint and The Associated Press. At this distance, which is more than 25.9 billion kilometres or 16 billion miles, a light signal from Earth will take 24 hours to reach the probe.
The spacecraft, which was launched in 1977, is currently the most distant human-made object from Earth. It is travelling at approximately 61,000 km/h and entered interstellar space in 2012. A response signal sent from Voyager 1 back to Earth would also take approximately 24 hours to arrive.
Project manager Suzanne Dodd told The Associated Press that the spacecraft is a "national treasure" and acts as Earth's ambassador. Dodd, who has worked with the Voyagers since 1984, described the probes as being like weather satellites that beam back data regarding magnetic fields, pressure, dust, and cosmic rays.
To mark the milestone, NASA has launched the 'Shine Bright for Voyager's Light-Day' campaign. The agency has invited people to flash golden lights towards the sky after sunset on Tuesday, November 17, using Morse code to spell the spacecraft's call sign, 'V-G-R'.
The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. While Voyager 1 reaches this milestone now, its twin, Voyager 2, is not expected to reach the one light-day mark until 2035.