NASA's Voyager 1 Nears Historic One Light-Day Distance From Earth in 2026

NASA's Artemis program is progressing with Artemis II, a crewed lunar mission following the uncrewed Artemis I, aiming to demonstrate the Space Launch System and Orion capsule capabilities while including an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency. Meanwhile, NASA's Voyager 1 probe, launched in 1977, continues to set records as the farthest human-made object from Earth and is on course to reach one light-day away in November 2026, marking a significant milestone in interstellar exploration. Voyager 1 has crossed the heliopause, entering interstellar space in 2012, and has discovered a "wall of fire"—the heliopause boundary where solar winds meet interstellar gas, creating superheated plasma at extreme temperatures. Despite the intense heat, the low particle density allows Voyager 1 to continue transmitting data back to Earth using its radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The Voyager mission continues to yield important scientific data about the outer solar system and beyond, while Artemis II aims to pave the way for a future lunar landing mission, Artemis III, marking a new era of human space exploration.