Voyager 1 Goes Where No One Has Gone Before

“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” – Douglas Adams

Ladies and gentleman, Voyager 1 has left the building. The solar system actually. From CNN:

But scientists now have strong evidence that NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has crossed this important border, making history as the first human-made object to leave the heliosphere, the magnetic boundary separating the solar system’s sun, planets and solar wind from the rest of the galaxy.

“In leaving the heliosphere and setting sail on the cosmic seas between the stars, Voyager has joined other historic journeys of exploration: The first circumnavigation of the Earth, the first steps on the Moon,” said Ed Stone, chief scientist on the Voyager mission. “That’s the kind of event this is, as we leave behind our solar bubble.”

A new study in the journal Science suggests that the probe entered the interstellar medium around August 25, 2012. You may have heard other reports that Voyager 1 has made the historic crossing before, but Thursday was the first time NASA announced it.

The twin spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 were launched in 1977, 16 days apart. As of Thursday, according to NASA’s real-time odometer, Voyager 1 is 18.8 billion kilometers (11.7 billion miles) from Earth. Its sibling, Voyager 2, is 15.3 billion (9.5 billion) kilometers from our planet.

I’ll refrain from unleashing a “wow man, think about what Voyager 1 is seeing, can you dig ittttt?” trip on you. Honestly this is a truly impressive feat for mankind so pat yourselves on the back. This information was originally speculated about last August, but now that NASA has released their definitive findings it is official. Voyager 1 is out there seeing sights unimaginable to man. Whatever its findings are you can bet that they will trump your Candy Crush achievements.