Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 alongside a secondary vessel – Voyager 2 –
which also remains in flight around one billion miles behind its sister
ship.
The technology on board the vessels can only store 8,000 words at a time and
transmits information back to Earth at 160 bits a second, with a device the
strength of a fridge light bulb. Signals take 17 hours to be intercepted by
a network of radio dishes in America, Australia and Spain, known as the Deep
Space Network.
Scientists hope the ship will continue to transmit information until 2025.
“We’ll be sad once Voyager finally hangs up the phone, but we will have been
part of an extraordinary journey,” Dr Stone said.
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