Launched with a Purpose

In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 on a mission made possible by a rare planetary alignment that occurs only once every 175 years. Scientists had been planning for over a decade, calculating precise gravitational slingshot maneuvers around Jupiter and Saturn. Every detail of the trajectory was intentional. Forty-six years later, Voyager 1 is still transmitting data from beyond our solar system — the farthest human-made object in existence.…