Voyager 1 Spacecraft

From NASA Solar System Exploration:

No object built by human hands has traveled farther than NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched 40 years ago this week. And that's not its only claim to fame. In this week's 10 Things blog, we highlight 10 firsts for one of humanity's proudest flagships. You'll also want to tune in on Tuesday, Sept. 5., when NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum will celebrate Voyager's anniversary with a public event at 9:30 a.m. PDT (12:30 p.m. EDT). The observance will take place at the Smithsonian's museum in Washington, and the proceedings will be broadcast live on NASA Television as well as streamed on the agency's website. During the event, a celebrity guest will transmit a message toward the Voyager 1 spacecraft as it heads out into the galaxy. Details: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-and-iconic-museum-honor-voyager-spacecraft-40th-anniversary
And be sure to check out our new, downloadable posters commemorating Voyager's legacy: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/downloads/

1. Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft to discover active volcanoes beyond Earth, on Jupiter's moon Io: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/io/indepth

2. It was the first spacecraft to detect lightning on a planet other than Earth, at Jupiter. This is what it sounds like when the radio waves emitted by the lightning are converted to sound: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/multimedia/jwhist-dag-short.wav

3. It was the first to detect a nitrogen-rich atmosphere beyond our home planet, on Saturn's moon Titan.

4. Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft to leave the heliosphere—the enormous magnetic bubble encompassing our Sun, planets and solar wind—and enter interstellar space, the expanse between the stars.

5. It was the first spacecraft to measure full intensity of cosmic rays, which are atoms accelerated to nearly the speed of light, in interstellar space.

6. It was the first to measure the magnetic field in interstellar space.

7. It was the first to measure the density of the interstellar medium—which mainly consists of material ejected by ancient supernovae, exploding stars.

8. It was the first spacecraft with programmable, computer-controlled attitude and articulation (the pointing of the spacecraft).

9. It was the first spacecraft with autonomous fault protection, which means it's able to detect its own problems and take corrective action.

10. Voyager 1 is the most distant spacecraft from Earth. It passed Pioneer 10's distance on Feb. 17, 1998 and is currently about 13 billion miles, or 21 billion kilometers, away. It takes a radio signal traveling at the speed of light more than 19 hours to make the one-way trip from Voyager to Earth. At the current rate, every minute that goes by takes Voyager 1 more than 1,500 miles farther away, as it recedes into the dark reaches of interstellar space. You can track both Voyager 1 and 2's current positions at: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/

See more links, images and previous 10 Things blogs at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2017/09/04/10-things-sept-4 

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