For those who worked on the mission in 1977, the announcement in 2013 was bittersweet. Many of the original engineers had retired or passed away. But to see their child—a machine built during the Carter administration—cross the cosmic shoreline was a moment of awe.
In the vast, silent expanse of the solar system, two spacecraft drift further than any man-made object in history. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched in the golden age of space exploration, have transcended their original missions to become interstellar ambassadors. While the missions have spanned decades, the year stands as a distinct and historic milestone. It was the year humanity officially confirmed that it had crossed the threshold into interstellar space. voyager 2013
To understand the significance of the events of 2013, one must appreciate the audacity of the Voyager program. Launched in 1977, the twin spacecraft were originally designed for a "Grand Tour" of the outer planets. Voyager 1 provided stunning images of Jupiter and Saturn, while its sister craft, Voyager 2, remains the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. For those who worked on the mission in
Launched with each Voyager was a Golden Record: a phonograph record containing sounds and images of Earth, designed to be a message in a bottle for any intelligent alien life that might find the probe billions of years from now. In the vast, silent expanse of the solar
: Powered by a 1,700 cc V-twin engine delivering high torque (108 ft. lbs.) for highway passing .
On , NASA held a press conference to make the official announcement. Based on the plasma density data and the magnetic field shift, they declared that Voyager 1 had entered interstellar space.
One of the most viral moments associated with was the release of audio recordings. NASA released the actual "sounds" recorded by the Plasma Wave Instrument as the spacecraft crossed the boundary.