Mapping Voyager 1's Incredible 36-Year Trek Through Space
 

Mapping Voyager 1's Incredible 36-Year Trek Through Space
http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyM...ca/voyager.jpghttp://rack.3.mshcdn.com/assets/feed...013aed8d66.jpghttp://rack.1.mshcdn.com/assets/feed...3b7fd07c38.jpg
It's a hard k**ck life for a planetary probe. Launched Sept. 5, 1977, the stalwart Voyager 1 spacecraft has been Earth's most distant ambassador since 1998.

And it's still going.

See also: Eye Candy for Space Geeks: 38 Stunning Photos From 'Cosmos'


March 5 marked the 35th anniversary of Voyager's closest contact with Jupiter, when the spacecraft came within 217,000 miles of the surface of the planet

**w approximately 11.8 billion miles away, Voyager 1 continues its lonesome trek through the heliosheath, a transitional region that borders interstellar space. Traveling about 36,000 miles per hour, the probe will pass into interstellar space by the end of the decade, scientists estimate, making it the first human-made object ever to do so Read more...

More about Space, Features, Science, Infographic, and Gadgetshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Mashable/~4/HAU1hcAocWc