Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to study Jupiter and Saturn on a planned five-year mission, is due to become the first human-made object one light-day from Earth on November 18, 2026. A light-day is the distance light travels in 24 hours - about 16 billion miles, or 26 billion kilometers. The spacecraft is moving away from the Sun at roughly 37,844 miles per hour, far slower than the Parker Solar Probe’s record speed, so reaching this milestone will have taken nearly 49 years. Its extraordinary distance and survival make the approaching mark a demonstration of both the mission’s durability and the scale of interstellar travel.
Keeping Voyager 1 operating has required repeated engineering work across immense communication delays. A serious memory failure in 2024 took weeks to diagnose and repair; by then, a signal’s round trip took at least 45 hours. In 2026, NASA also shut down an instrument after an unexpected decline in available power. The probe’s three radioisotope generators may sustain operations into the 2030s, allowing it to continue returning data from interstellar space if no major failure occurs. Voyager 1 is heading toward the star Gliese 445, but even its projected passage within 1.7 light-years is about 17,000 years away. At its current speed - only about 0.0056% of light speed - the journey underscores how long travel between stars would take.
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China plans to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030 using a lunar-orbit rendezvous, with the crew and lander launched separately. The schedule calls for uncrewed rocket and lander tests in 2027 and 2028, followed by orbital docking tests in 2029. (arstechnica.com)
NASA’s decommissioned Swift telescope is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on November 4, though its landing location and which parts will survive are unknown. Launched in 2004, the observatory detected at least 1,400 supernovas and studied high-energy cosmic explosions. (abc.net.au)
A study says paper straws can have a greater environmental impact than plastic straws. The finding challenges the assumption that paper is always the greener choice. (nypost.com)
Maksym Radziwill gives a talk titled “The quasi-Riemann Hypothesis.” The subject is a mathematical hypothesis related to the Riemann Hypothesis. (youtube.com)
A large international study found that common questionnaires and task-based tests of cognitive reappraisal do not measure the same ability. This mismatch makes it harder to assess a skill central to cognitive behavioral therapy and emotional resilience. (arstechnica.com)
SLAC researchers found experimental proof of altermagnetism, a newly recognized magnetic phase. The finding confirms a distinct form of magnetic order and could expand research into magnetic materials. (www6.slac.stanford.edu)
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