Voyager I to reach one light day from earth next year

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fc2112
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8:23a, 12/10/25
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/09/science/voyager-1-light-day-earth

Quote:
Voyager 1, NASA's deep-space probe, could soon become the first spacecraft to reach a historic milestone. In November 2026, the probe will be one light-day from Earth.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the farthest spacecraft from our planet, currently exploring interstellar space 15.8 billion miles away.

The term light-day refers to the distance at which it will take 24 hours for a signal or command traveling at the speed of light to reach the spacecraft from Earth, said Suzy Dodd, Voyager project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One light-day is equivalent to 16 billion miles (26 billion kilometers).

So if Voyager's team is asking the spacecraft to do something once it reaches that point, it will take another day for Voyager to respond.


V'Ger hasn't found that black hole yet.

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rednecked
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In reply to fc2112 • 9:08a, 12/10/25
AG
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cj774
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In reply to fc2112 • 10:17a, 12/10/25
AG
fc2112 said:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/09/science/voyager-1-light-day-earth

Quote:
Voyager 1, NASA's deep-space probe, could soon become the first spacecraft to reach a historic milestone. In November 2026, the probe will be one light-day from Earth.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the farthest spacecraft from our planet, currently exploring interstellar space 15.8 billion miles away.

The term light-day refers to the distance at which it will take 24 hours for a signal or command traveling at the speed of light to reach the spacecraft from Earth, said Suzy Dodd, Voyager project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One light-day is equivalent to 16 billion miles (26 billion kilometers).

So if Voyager's team is asking the spacecraft to do something once it reaches that point, it will take another day for Voyager to respond.


V'Ger hasn't found that black hole yet.



From a fellow nerd, well done. Blue parachute for you.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to fc2112 • 10:28a, 12/10/25
She died at 49 from a heart attack. Was said to be a chain smoker for years.
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fc2112
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In reply to maroon barchetta • 11:06a, 12/10/25
maroon barchetta said:
She died at 49 from a heart attack. Was said to be a chain smoker for years.

Persis Khambatta was sooooooooooo hot - Miss India at 16 years old, Bollywood star - and biggest US role she had her head shaved.

Died way too young.

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NoahAg
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12:33p, 12/10/25
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?
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fc2112
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In reply to NoahAg • 12:59p, 12/10/25
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?

It takes about a day to get there and a day for a reply.

And you'd better know exactly where the object is and it better have it's antenna pointed right at you.
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IIIHorn
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In reply to fc2112 • 1:22p, 12/10/25
fc2112 said:
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?

It takes about a day to get there and a day for a reply.

And you'd better know exactly where the object is and it better have it's antenna pointed right at you.

Sound waves or light waves?
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Burdizzo
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In reply to IIIHorn • 1:34p, 12/10/25
AG
IIIHorn said:
fc2112 said:
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?

It takes about a day to get there and a day for a reply.

And you'd better know exactly where the object is and it better have it's antenna pointed right at you.

Sound waves or light waves?


Tidal
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toucan82
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1:47p, 12/10/25
16 billion miles?

That "probe" is sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Virginia.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to toucan82 • 1:49p, 12/10/25
toucan82 said:
16 billion miles?

That "probe" is sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Virginia.


"Top Men"
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IIIHorn
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In reply to Burdizzo • 2:05p, 12/10/25
Burdizzo said:
IIIHorn said:
fc2112 said:
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?

It takes about a day to get there and a day for a reply.

And you'd better know exactly where the object is and it better have it's antenna pointed right at you.

Sound waves or light waves?


Tidal

State the velocity in furlongs per fortnight.
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fc2112
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In reply to IIIHorn • 2:24p, 12/10/25
IIIHorn said:
fc2112 said:
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?

It takes about a day to get there and a day for a reply.

And you'd better know exactly where the object is and it better have it's antenna pointed right at you.

Sound waves or light waves?

Light, because...

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TXAG 05
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In reply to fc2112 • 2:45p, 12/10/25
AG
fc2112 said:
maroon barchetta said:
She died at 49 from a heart attack. Was said to be a chain smoker for years.

Persis Khambatta was sooooooooooo hot - Miss India at 16 years old, Bollywood star - and biggest US role she had her head shaved.

Died way too young.


Looks better with her head shaved
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Burdizzo
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In reply to fc2112 • 2:47p, 12/10/25
AG
fc2112 said:
IIIHorn said:
fc2112 said:
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?

It takes about a day to get there and a day for a reply.

And you'd better know exactly where the object is and it better have it's antenna pointed right at you.

Sound waves or light waves?

Light, because...




I had no idea that tagline in the Alien movie poster came from Ray Bradbury
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fc2112
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In reply to Burdizzo • 2:49p, 12/10/25
I've read almost everything Ray Bradbury wrote.
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toucan82
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In reply to Burdizzo • 3:35p, 12/10/25
Ooh look at me, I watch fancy foreign movies. I'm so cultured.
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Burdizzo
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In reply to toucan82 • 3:45p, 12/10/25
AG
toucan82 said:
Ooh look at me, I watch fancy foreign movies. I'm so cultured.



How else am I supposed to learn Spanish?
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to Burdizzo • 4:11p, 12/10/25
Burdizzo said:
toucan82 said:
Ooh look at me, I watch fancy foreign movies. I'm so cultured.



How else am I supposed to learn Spanish?


Univision Weather Girls.

Duh.
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Bob Knights Liver
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4:27p, 12/10/25
How far out does it have to be to see the edge of the Earth and prove all those Round Earthers wrong?
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Burdizzo
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In reply to Bob Knights Liver • 4:32p, 12/10/25
AG
Bob Knights Liver said:
How far out does it have to be to see the edge of the Earth and prove all those Round Earthers wrong?



Those images are CGI, you know.
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toucan82
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4:36p, 12/10/25
Everything you see in this simulation is CGI
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akaggie05
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In reply to NoahAg • 6:39a, 12/11/25
AG
NoahAg said:
Dumb question, but how exactly is a message sent and received to an object 16 billion miles away?


Serious answer. YUGE antennas. Like these (there are three of these sites around the world, roughly evenly spaced so that at any given time there is coverage available.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldstone_Deep_Space_Communications_Complex
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IIIHorn
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In reply to toucan82 • 9:23a, 12/11/25
toucan82 said:
Ooh look at me, I watch fancy foreign movies. I'm so cultured.

Burdizzo has more culture than a Petri dish.
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King of the Dairy Queen
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10:47a, 12/11/25
with the money used to make voyager 1 interstellar we could have bought 1.65 billion jack in the box tacos. You tell me what's ethical.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to King of the Dairy Queen • 10:59a, 12/11/25
King of the Dairy Queen said:
with the money used to make voyager 1 interstellar we could have bought 1.65 billion jack in the box tacos. You tell me what's ethical.
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Burdizzo
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In reply to IIIHorn • 11:11a, 12/11/25
AG
IIIHorn said:
toucan82 said:
Ooh look at me, I watch fancy foreign movies. I'm so cultured.

Burdizzo has more culture than a Petri dish.



Yep, and I have the infections to prove it
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Mega Lops
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In reply to fc2112 • 11:22a, 12/11/25
AG
fc2112 said:
V'Ger hasn't found that black hole yet.


"V'Ger" from Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the Voyager 6 probe. Pure fiction and not a real launched satellite.

Which makes your thread


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IIIHorn
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In reply to Burdizzo • 12:09p, 12/11/25
Burdizzo said:
IIIHorn said:
toucan82 said:
Ooh look at me, I watch fancy foreign movies. I'm so cultured.

Burdizzo has more culture than a Petri dish.



Yep, and I have the infections to prove it

Doh!
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BBRex
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In reply to fc2112 • 12:09p, 12/11/25
AG
In Voyager's case, it's more like:

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IIIHorn
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In reply to BBRex • 12:13p, 12/11/25
BBRex said:
In Voyager's case, it's more like:


The sound of one hand clapping.
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fc2112
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In reply to Mega Lops • 12:30p, 12/11/25
Mega Lops said:
fc2112 said:
V'Ger hasn't found that black hole yet.


"V'Ger" from Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the Voyager 6 probe. Pure fiction and not a real launched satellite.

What's sad is - sitting in the Northpark Cinema theater in 1979 watching this movie - when they said Voyager 6 - I knew it had never existed. Such a geek I was in high school, I had all the planetary probes memorized.
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BBRex
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In reply to IIIHorn • 5:33p, 12/11/25
AG
If you haven't read it, I recommend it.
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Burdizzo
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In reply to fc2112 • 6:15p, 12/11/25
AG
I saw it in the theater too because I watched a lot of Star Trek reruns after school. When they said Voyager 6 my first thought was "I guess that one gets launched in the 80s"
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BartInLA
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8:46p, 12/11/25
Often it takes 24 hours for posters to respond to my posts. I feel very distant in these cases.
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