NASA Marks Voyager 1 One-Light-Day Milestone With Events

NASA is marking Voyager 1's distance of one light-day from Earth with two events. The spacecraft, launched in 1977, remains the most distant human-made object.

Voyager 1 launched in 1977 and is now the farthest human-made object. Its one-light-day milestone means a signal from Earth takes 24 hours to reach it.

NASA is highlighting the milestone with two events. One is Shine Bright for Voyager’s Light-Day, a symbolic wave of golden light after sunset; the effort is associated with VGR, and NASA asks participants to tag @NASA.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will hold a moderated discussion on the status of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The venue is NASA JPL’s von Kármán Auditorium, which hosted Voyager briefings during the grand tour.

Journalists seeking remote access need to reply no less than two hours before the session begins. Josh Smooha is the contact for U.S. media RSVPs, and NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in 2012, followed by Voyager 2 in 2018. The pair provide unique scientific observations beyond the heliosphere.

The spacecraft were designed to explore the outer planets, and the mission is associated with a planetary alignment that occurs once every 176 years. The mission forged a path through space.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by Caltech, built and operates the Voyager spacecraft. The Deep Space Network, managed by NASA JPL, enables communication with the distant probes, and the mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division.

The milestone shows the lasting scientific value of a mission launched in 1977. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 still provide unique observations beyond the heliosphere.

For readers tracking NASA's deep-space infrastructure, the event highlights the Deep Space Network's role in communicating with distant probes and JPL's role in operating them.

This site reported in October 2026 that Voyager 1 was expected to reach the one-light-day distance on Nov. 18, 2026.

In November 2026, we reported that NASA's Deep Space Network reestablished contact with Voyager 1 after about 48 hours, when the problem cleared on its own.

JPL will hold a moderated discussion on the condition of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 at the von Kármán Auditorium.

A NASA+ documentary about Voyager is planned for release in 2027, tied to the mission's 50th anniversary.