Spacecraft

Voyager 1

NASA's space probe launched in 1977, the most distant human-made object.

Measured

172 AU. To cross it:

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Launched on 5 September 1977, it flew past Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.
It became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space, in August 2012.
On 25 August 2012 its counts of cosmic rays from the galaxy jumped and the Sun's own particles fell away almost to nothing — the heliopause, measured (Stone et al. 2013).
Radio signals take about 24 hours to reach it: NASA dates its arrival at one light-day from Earth to 18 November 2026.
Before Jupiter it was too slow to ever leave the Sun: 13.7 km/s, with 19.1 needed there. Jupiter's pull changed that.
Jupiter, 5 March 1979: 13.7 → 23.3 km/s against the Sun.
Saturn, 12 November 1980: 20.3 → 21.4 km/s against the Sun.
Speeds from its trajectory, about two to three months each side of the pass (JPL Horizons).

JPL Horizons heliocentric ephemeris, 2026-10-25 (Voyager 1 172.15 AU, Voyager 2 144.29 AU, New Horizons 65.90 AU)

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.

Spacecraft

NASA's space probe launched in 1977, the most distant human-made object.

172 AU. To cross it:

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Launched on 5 September 1977, it flew past Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.
It became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space, in August 2012.
On 25 August 2012 its counts of cosmic rays from the galaxy jumped and the Sun's own particles fell away almost to nothing — the heliopause, measured (Stone et al. 2013).
Radio signals take about 24 hours to reach it: NASA dates its arrival at one light-day from Earth to 18 November 2026.
Before Jupiter it was too slow to ever leave the Sun: 13.7 km/s, with 19.1 needed there. Jupiter's pull changed that.
Jupiter, 5 March 1979: 13.7 → 23.3 km/s against the Sun.
Saturn, 12 November 1980: 20.3 → 21.4 km/s against the Sun.
Speeds from its trajectory, about two to three months each side of the pass (JPL Horizons).

JPL Horizons heliocentric ephemeris, 2026-10-25 (Voyager 1 172.15 AU, Voyager 2 144.29 AU, New Horizons 65.90 AU)

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.