On September 5th, 1977, Voyager 1 was launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida. For over forty-two years the space probe has raced
away from Earth at thirty-eight thousand miles per hour—past Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, cruising past Pluto and the furthest fringes of our
Solar System. On August 25th, 2012, Voyager 1 accomplished what no
other human designed device had ever done. The probe ventured into deep
interstellar space. Over thirteen billion miles away!
Impossibly, now the spacecraft is returning to Earth, traveling
at nearly one/thirty-seventh the speed of light. In thirty-one days, Voyager 1
will arrive home.
And it’s bringing an uninvited guest!