Voyager 1 Becomes Mankind’s Farthest Object From Earth

A spacecraft bearing sounds of a wild dog, a mother’s kiss and a tractor passed a point 6.5 billion miles from Earth on Tuesday to become the most distant object made by humans.

Voyager 1--so far away after more than 20 years in space that its signals take more than 9 1/2 hours to reach Earth--surpassed the distance of the older Pioneer 10 spacecraft at 2:10 p.m.

Voyager 1 and Pioneer 10 are headed away from the sun in nearly opposite directions. Both are powered by nuclear batteries that keep them functioning in the freezing blackness of space.

On the edge of the solar system, Voyager 1 still returns data, although the power of the signal reaching NASA antennas is 20 billion times weaker than the power of a digital watch battery.

Pioneer 10 led the way for 25 years “and now the baton is being passed,” said Edward Stone, head of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Voyager project director.

Voyager 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral on Sept. 5, 1977, carrying scientific instruments for planetary exploration and a message to the universe.