NASA’s Voyager 1 closes in on a light-day in interstellar space for a new distance record

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Voyager 1 is about to become humanity’s first object to reach one light-day from Earth as it pushes ever deeper into interstellar space. That’s a mind-blowing distance of more than 16 billion miles (26 billion kilometers) for the spacecraft launched 49 years ago. When Voyager 1 reaches that remarkable milestone on Wednesday, its radio signals will take precisely 24 hours traveling at the speed of light to reach Earth — in other words, one light-day. NASA is looking at another 18,000 years before the spacecraft achieves a full light-year and more than double that before it comes near another star. Project manager Suzanne Dodd sees Voyager 1 as Earth’s ambassador hurtling between stars while providing a “sense of wonder” on the home front. “It’s a national treasure,” she told The Associated Press.

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