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Voyager 1 will reach one light-day from Earth in 2026. Here’s what that means
Voyager 1 will have a 24-hour signal delay at one light-day distance, posing communication and instrument management challenges while continuing to send scientific data.
- Soon, Voyager 1 will reach one light-day from Earth, marking a historic first for the farthest-operating probe, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says.
- Voyager 1 has been cruising on a decades-long uninterrupted course since its Saturn flyby, continuing outward at roughly 38,000 miles per hour, mission engineers say.
- Signal and telemetry details show one light-day equals 16 billion miles with a signal one-way light-time of 24 hours, and telemetry/data rate described as similar to dial-up slowing fault response.
- Mission engineers are planning to turn off systems to conserve power and keep Voyager probes warm, as Suzy Dodd said freezing propellant lines and mispointed antennae would end the mission.
- Operating instruments longer will map heliopause changes and onboard autonomy helps Voyager probes enter safe states, supporting future interstellar mission designers, the team says.
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN - NASA's deep-space probe Voyager 1 could soon become the first spacecraft to reach a historic milestone. In November 2026, the probe will be one light-day from Earth. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the most distant spacecraft from our planet and is currently exploring interstellar space at a distance of 25.4 billion kilometers. The term "light-day" refers to the distance at which a signal or command traveling at the sp…
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Total News Sources10
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution75% Center
Bias Distribution
- 75% of the sources are Center
75% Center
L 25%
C 75%
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