Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977. Part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System, Voyager 1 was launched 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. Having operated for 42 years and 5 days as of September 10, 2019, the spacecraft still communicates with the Deep Space Network to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth. At a distance of 146 AU (21.8 billion km; 13.6 billion mi) from Earth as of July 11, 2019, it is the most distant man-made object from Earth.?
The probe's objectives included flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Although the spacecraft's course could have been altered to include a Pluto encounter by forgoing the Titan flyby, exploration of the moon took priority because it was known to have a substantial atmosphere. Voyager 1 studied the weather, magnetic fields, and rings of the two planets and was the first probe to provide detailed images of their moons.