NASA's Voyager 1

Voyager 1

Operator	NASA / JPL
Mission type	Flyby
Flyby of	Jupiter, Saturn
Launch date	1977-09-05 12:56:00 UTC (34 years, 11 months and 21 days ago)
Launch vehicle	Titan IIIE-Centaur
Launch site	Space Launch Complex 41 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, United States
Mission duration	In progress (Interstellar mission) (33 years, 7 months and 22 days elapsed) Jupiter encounter (completed 1979-04-13) Saturn encounter (completed 1980-12-14)
COSPAR ID	1977-084A
Homepage	NASA Voyager website
Mass	721.9 kg (1,592 lb)
Power	420 W (3 RTGs)

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722 kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977 to study the outer Solar System and interstellar medium. Operating for 34 years, 11 months and 21 days as of 26 August 2012 (current operation time), the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of 120 astronomical units (1.8x1010 km) as of February 2012, it is the farthest manmade object from Earth. Voyager 1 is now in the heliosheath, which is the outermost layer of the heliosphere. On 15 June 2012, NASA scientists reported that Voyager 1 may be very close to entering interstellar space and becoming the first manmade object to leave the Solar System. Being a part of the Voyager program with its sister craft Voyager 2, the spacecraft is in extended mission, tasked with locating and studying the boundaries of the Solar System, including the Kuiper belt, the heliosphere and interstellar space. The primary mission ended November 20, 1980, after encountering the Jovian system in 1979 and the Saturnian system in 1980. It was the first probe to provide detailed images of the two largest planets and their moons. Source:Wikipedia