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NASA's Voyager 1 Spacecraft
Credit: NASA
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Sept. 5, 1977: Voyager 1 Launch
Credit: NASA
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Sept. 5, 1977: Voyager 1 Snaps Photo of Earth and Moon
Credit: NASA
This image of the Earth and moon in a single frame, the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft, was recorded on Sept. 18, 1977, by Voyager 1 when it was 7.25 million miles from Earth. The moon is at the top of the picture and beyond the Earth as viewed by Voyager. [
See SPACE.com's Compete Coverage: Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space]
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March 5, 1979: Voyager 1 Makes Jupiter Flyby
Credit: NASA/JPL
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Nov. 12, 1980: Voyager 1 Flies By Saturn
Credit: NASA/JPL and NASA/JPL/SSI
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft revealed the kinks in one of Saturn's narrowest rings. The Voyager 1 image (left) was released on Nov. 12, 1980. The closer view of the F ring (right) was obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on April 13, 2005. The moon Pandora is to the left (exterior) of the ring and the moon Prometheus is to the right (interior) of the ring. [
See SPACE.com's Compete Coverage: Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space]
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1982: NASA Upgrades Deep Space Network Antennas
Credit: NASA
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Jan. 1, 1990: Voyager Begins Extended' Interstellar Mission '
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Feb. 14, 1990: Voyager Takes Final Solar System Portrait
Credit: NASA/JPL
This narrow-angle color image of the Earth s a part of the first ever "portrait" of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. Image released Feb. 14, 1990. [
See SPACE.com's Compete Coverage: Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space]
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Feb. 17, 1998: Voyager 1 passes Pioneer 10
Credit: NASA
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Voyager Signal Spotted By Earth Radio Telescopes
Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
In 1990, Voyager 1 took the famous "Pale Blue Dot" picture looking back at Earth. In 2013, the Very Long Baseline Array got the reverse-angle shot — this radio telescope image showing the signal of the spacecraft as a similar point of light. Image released Sept. 12, 2013. [
See SPACE.com's Compete Coverage: Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space]
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August 2012: Voyager Enters Interstellar Space
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist's concept depicts NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space, or the space between stars. Interstellar space is dominated by the plasma, or ionized gas, that was ejected by the death of nearby giant stars millions of years ago. The environment inside our solar bubble is dominated by the plasma exhausted by our sun, known as the solar wind. The interstellar plasma is shown with an orange glow similar to the color seen in visible-light images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope that show stars in the Orion nebula traveling through interstellar space. Image released Sept. 12, 2013. [
See SPACE.com's Compete Coverage: Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space]
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Sept. 12, 2013: NASA Officially Announces Voyager 1's Triumph
Credit: NASA TV
John M. Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, introduces the Voyager press conference. NASA held a news conference Sept. 12, 2013, at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT), to discuss NASA's Voyager mission. The news conference was held in Washington, DC, at NASA Headquarters. [
See SPACE.com's Compete Coverage: Voyager 1 In Interstellar Space]
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Sept. 12, 2013: NASA Officially Announces Voyager 1's Triumph
Credit: NASA TV
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NASA Press Conference Regarding Voyager 1
Credit: NASA TV
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Solar System in Perspective
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist's concept puts solar system distances in perspective. The scale bar is in astronomical units, with each set distance beyond 1 AU representing 10 times the previous distance. One AU is the distance from the sun to the Earth, which is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. Neptune, the most distant planet from the sun, is about 30 AU. NASA's Voyager 1, humankind's most distant spacecraft, is around 125 AU. Scientists believe it entered interstellar space, or the space between stars, on Aug. 25, 2012. Image released Sept. 12, 2013.
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Moving into Interstellar Space
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist's concept shows the outer layers of our solar bubble, or heliosphere, and nearby interstellar space. NASA's Voyager 1 is currently exploring a region of interstellar space, which is the space between stars that still feels charged particle and magnetic field influences from the heliosphere. The magnetic field lines (yellow arcs) appear to lie in the same general direction as the magnetic field lines emanating from our sun. Image released Sept. 12, 2013.
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Sept. 12, 2013: Dwayne Brown Kicks Off Voyager 1 News Conference
Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Dwayne Brown, Senior Public Affairs Officer, NASA Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, kicks off a news conference on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 in Washington.
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Sept. 12, 2013: John Grunsfeld Speaks at Voyager 1 Conference
Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
John Grunsfeld, NASA Associate Administrator for Science in Washington, speaks at a news conference on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 in Washington.
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Sept. 12, 2013: Ed Stone Holds Model of Spacecraft at Voyager 1 Conference
Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, California Institute of Technology, holds a model of NASA's Voyager spacecraft at a news conference, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
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Sept. 12, 2013: Voyager Project Scientist Speaks at Press Conference
Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, California Institute of Technology, is seen as he speaks at a news conference on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
