The cultural significance of this was embraced by Carl Sagan, perhaps the most important celebrity scientist in modern history. It was known from the start of the mission that the Voyagers would leave the solar system. That could be forever вЂ“ or until itвЂ™s found. ItвЂ™s still going fast enough to escape the solar system вЂ“ and will carry on travelling, like its twin Voyager 1, for as long as the path ahead it is clear. Voyager 2 is a little slower, so itвЂ™s a couple of billion miles behind: the final encounter with Neptune resulted in a net loss of speed and a sharp change of course. ItвЂ™s well over 13 billion miles from home, the farthest any human-made object has ever travelled. Although it is continuously slowing down, Voyager 1 has a current speed of around 38,000 mph вЂ“ more than enough to carry it into interstellar space. The flight path required enormous speeds вЂ“ Voyager 1 was propelled to the fastest continuous speed of any human-made object. It would give humans the first close look at the giant planets and reveal amazing, unexpected discoveries вЂ“ like active volcanoes and the tantalising prospect of liquid water on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. It capitalised on a rare orbital event that would bring Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune into close proximity, allowing a space probe to visit all of them in a single trip.

The Voyager program started life as a вЂњGrand TourвЂќ of the outer planets of the solar system. This is the story of how humankind waved hello into the infinite void. It was the least scientific element of the Voyager program, but its cultural importance is still felt today. On board each Voyager was a Golden Record вЂ“ a greeting to anyone out there that should find it. They would travel so fast that eventually, theyвЂ™d leave the solar system behind altogether, and become the first interstellar objects ever made. In 1977, two spacecraft were launched from Earth, never to return: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

Golden records entertainment