{"id":62882,"date":"2026-01-14T23:44:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=62882"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:33:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:33:04","slug":"voyager-1-the-farthest-traveling-human-made-object-and-spains-role-in-its-long-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/01\/14\/voyager-1-the-farthest-traveling-human-made-object-and-spains-role-in-its-long-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Voyager 1, the farthest-traveling human-made object, and Spain's role in its long journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 5, 1977, a NASA space probe was launched that has achieved a record that will be very difficult to surpass.<\/p>\n

The history of the five NASA spacecrafts that travel beyond the Solar System<\/a><\/rel>
\nSpain: huge abandoned satellite dishes that participated in a NASA program<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

On its journey through the Solar System, the Voyager 1 probe flew past the planets Jupiter and Saturn<\/strong> as well as several of their moons, discovering Jupiter's rings and three new moons of Saturn: Prometheus, Pandora, and Atlas. Afterward, it continued its journey into outer space. On February 17, 1998, it became the farthest-reaching human-made object<\/strong>, a record previously held by the Pioneer 10 probe since 1983.<\/p>\n

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The launch of the Voyager 1 probe with a Titan III\/Centaur rocket on September 5, 1977 from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida (Photo: NASA<\/a>).<\/div>\n

On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 achieved a new milestone, becoming the first human-made object to reach the helipause<\/strong>, the interstellar boundary where the solar wind ceases. Thus, this spacecraft was the first to leave the Solar System. Voyager 1 is a relic of an already obsolete technology. According to NASA<\/a>, this spacecraft has about 3 million times less memory than modern mobile phones<\/strong> and transmits data about 38,000 times slower than a 5G internet connection.<\/p>\n

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An artist's rendering of the Voyager 1 probe (Image: Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Despite having very outdated technology to communicate with this space probe, NASA has managed to maintain contact with Voyager 1, but not for much longer<\/strong>. As its nuclear fuel runs out, its signal will become increasingly weak, and communication with it will be lost in the coming years<\/strong>, making this spacecraft the most isolated human-made object.<\/p>\n

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NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Robledo de Chavela, Madrid (Photo: Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex<\/a>).<\/div>\n

It should be noted that Spain has played a key role in this mission.<\/strong> Voyager 1 communicates with us thanks to NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN)<\/a>. For decades now, this network has had three mission tracking complexes:<\/strong> Goldstone (California, USA), Canberra (Australia), and Robledo de Chavela (Madrid, Spain). The Spanish complex, officially known as the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC)<\/a>, has six antennas for this tracking, the largest of which has a diameter of 70 meters.<\/p>\n

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Construction of the NASA complex in Robledo de Chavela began in 1964 (Photo: Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex<\/a>).<\/div>\n

At the end of December, the YouTube channel AdagioCero<\/a>, which began its journey on November 21, 2025, and which publishes content of excellent quality, published a magnificent video about the long journey of Voyager 1<\/strong>, explaining its history, its current situation, and what will become of it in the future (the video is in English; you can activate automatic Spanish subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):<\/p>\n