Voyager 1 to Reach 1 Light-Day on Nov. 18 at 16.1 Billion Miles
Updated
Updated · EarthSky · Jun 29
Voyager 1 to Reach 1 Light-Day on Nov. 18 at 16.1 Billion Miles
2 articles · Updated · EarthSky · Jun 29
Summary
NASA set Voyager 1’s 1 light-day milestone for 12:16:07 a.m. CST on Nov. 18, 2026, when the probe will be about 16.1 billion miles from Earth.
Mid-June tracking put the spacecraft at roughly 15.82 billion miles away, moving at about 79,960 mph, allowing NASA to refine the long-expected mid-November timing.
The 1 light-day mark equals 25.9 billion kilometers, or 173.14 astronomical units, for the farthest human-made object from Earth.
Voyager 1 launched in 1977, flew past Jupiter and Saturn, and crossed the heliopause in 2012; it still communicates with Earth even as one-way signals now take about a day.
Both Voyager probes remain active with reduced instruments after power-saving shutdowns, while Voyager 2 trails by about 2 billion miles and is moving more slowly.