Voyager 1 Reaches One Light-Day Milestone; NASA Plans Global Celebration and Expert Panel

Launched in 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 will achieve a historic milestone on November 18, becoming the first human-made object to reach a distance of one light-day from Earth—over 16 billion miles (25.9 billion kilometers) away. At this range, light or radio signals require a full 24 hours to traverse the gap between our planet and the spacecraft. To mark the occasion, NASA is hosting two public events.

On November 17, the agency invites global participation in “Shine Bright for Voyager’s Light-Day.” After sunset, individuals are encouraged to create a symbolic wave of golden light encircling the planet. A dedicated NASA website allows smartphones and tablets to flash “VGR”—Voyager’s call sign—in Morse code. Participants are invited to capture photos or videos of their signals and share them on social media tagging @NASA.

On November 19 at 12:00 p.m. EST (9:00 a.m. PST), NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California will host a moderated panel discussion in the von Kármán Auditorium. Mission experts and NASA leadership will discuss the current status of both Voyager probes, the unique science they continue to return from interstellar space, and the engineering challenges of sustaining operations across such vast distances. The event will also feature a preview of the upcoming NASA+ documentary slated for the mission’s 50th anniversary in 2027, followed by a Q&A session.

Panel participants include:

• Nicky Fox, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
• Jonathan Lunine, Chief Scientist, NASA JPL; Professor of Planetary Science, Caltech
• Suzanne Dodd, Voyager Project Manager, NASA JPL
• Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager Mission Manager, NASA JPL
• Jamie Rankin, Voyager Deputy Project Scientist, Princeton University

U.S. media wishing to attend in person must RSVP by November 16 to Josh Smooha at josh.smooha@jpl.nasa.gov. Foreign national media must RSVP by November 12. Virtual attendance RSVPs are accepted until two hours before the event. NASA’s media accreditation policy applies.

For nearly half a century, the Voyager mission has blazed a trail through the outer solar system and beyond. The twin probes leveraged a rare planetary alignment—occurring once every 176 years—to conduct the “Grand Tour” of the giant planets. Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in 2012, followed by Voyager 2 in 2018. Both continue to return unprecedented data on the environment beyond the heliosphere, the Sun’s protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields.

The Voyager spacecraft were built and are operated by JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California. NASA’s Deep Space Network, also managed by JPL, maintains communication with the distant explorers. The mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

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