(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kitchen Table Kibitzing 5/6/26: Still Exploring [1] ['View Profile', 'A Pagan In Arizona', 'Mercy Ormont', 'Thom Hartmann'] Date: 2026-05-06 47 years ago today Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter, giving us a clearer view than ever before of the giant planet. Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program, to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar space beyond the Sun’s heliosphere. It was launched 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. It communicates through the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth. Real-time distance and velocity data are provided by NASA and JPL.[4] At a distance of 172.59 AU (25.8 billion km; 16.0 billion mi) as of March 2026,[4] it is the most distant human-made object from Earth.[5] Voyager 1 is also projected to reach a distance of one light day from Earth in November 2026.[6] The probe made flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. NASA had a choice of either conducting a Pluto or Titan flyby. Exploration of Titan took priority because it was known to have a substantial atmosphere.[7][8][9] Voyager 1 studied the weather, magnetic fields, and rings of the two gas giants and was the first probe to provide detailed images of their moons. As part of the Voyager program and like its sister craft Voyager 2, the spacecraft’s extended mission is to locate and study the regions and boundaries of the outer heliosphere and to begin exploring the interstellar medium. Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause and entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012, making it the first spacecraft to do so.[10][11] Two years later, Voyager 1 began experiencing a third wave of coronal mass ejections from the Sun that continued to at least December 15, 2014, further confirming that the probe is in interstellar space.[12] Only two instruments are still working but the little explorer is still gathering data. This NASA site shows where it currently is. Hopefully the felon won’t pull the plug on it. It has a lonely future. Provided Voyager 1 does not collide with anything and is not retrieved, it is expected to reach the theorized Oort cloud in about 300 years[118][119] and take about 30,000 years to pass through it.[75][86] Though it is not heading towards any particular star, in about 40,000 years, it will pass within 1.6 light-years (0.49 parsecs; 100,000 astronomical units) of the star Gliese 445, which is in the constellation Camelopardalis and 17.1 light-years from Earth (as of 2010).[120] That star is generally moving towards the Solar System at about 119 km/s (430,000 km/h; 270,000 mph).[120] In 300,000 years, it will pass within less than 1 light-year of the M3V star TYC 3135–52–1.[121] The New Horizons space probe will never pass it, despite being launched from Earth at a higher speed than either Voyager spacecraft. The Voyager spacecraft benefited from multiple planetary flybys to increase their heliocentric velocities, whereas New Horizons received only a single such boost, from its Jupiter flyby in 2007. As of 2018, New Horizons is traveling at about 14 km/s (8.7 mi/s), 3 km/s (1.9 mi/s) slower than Voyager 1, and New Horizons, being closer to the Sun, is slowing more rapidly.[122] NASA says that: “The Voyagers are destined – perhaps eternally – to wander the Milky Way.”[123] Party on. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/6/800031443/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-5-6-26-h/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/