NASA Asks Public to Flash Phone Lights for Voyager 1 Light-Day Milestone
NASA is asking people worldwide to flash light from phones and tablets after sunset on Tuesday, November 17, as Voyager 1 nears one light-day from Earth. The agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will also host a public discussion on November 19.
NASA asks the public to flash light from smartphones and tablets after sunset on Tuesday, November 17, to mark Voyager 1 reaching one light-day from Earth on Wednesday, November 18. The agency calls the event "Shine Bright for Voyager's Light-Day."
NASA wants a symbolic wave of golden light to encircle the planet.
How to take part
NASA has built a website that makes phones and tablets flash "VGR" in Morse code. VGR is Voyager's call sign.
Participants are encouraged to capture photos or videos of their light-day signal and share them on social platforms, tagging @NASA.
Why one light-day matters
Voyager 1 launched in 1977, nearly 50 years ago. By November 18 it will have traveled one light-day from Earth, which NASA puts at more than 16 billion miles (25.9 billion kilometers).
Light from Earth would take 24 hours to reach the spacecraft. NASA describes Voyager 1 as the most distant human-made object.
The probe entered interstellar space in 2012. Its twin, Voyager 2, followed a different trajectory and entered in 2018. Both continue to return observations of the environment beyond the heliosphere, the protective bubble created by the Sun.
Discussion on November 19
On Thursday, November 19, at 12 p.m. EST (9 a.m. PST), NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California will host a moderated discussion. Mission members and NASA leadership will talk about the status of Voyager 1 and 2 and the science the twin probes still gather in interstellar space.
They will also cover the challenge of keeping the spacecraft running for so long over such vast distances. A question-and-answer session with media and other audience members will follow.
The event takes place in JPL's von Kármán Auditorium, where the lab hosted Voyager briefings during the spacecraft's grand tour of the outer planets.
Who is speaking
The named participants are Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, and Jonathan Lunine, JPL chief scientist and Caltech professor of planetary science. Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager, and Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager, will also take part.
Jamie Rankin, Voyager deputy project scientist at Princeton University, completes the list.
The session will include a preview of the upcoming NASA+ Voyager documentary. NASA plans to release it in 2027, for the mission's 50th anniversary.
About the mission
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were designed to explore the outer planets using a planetary alignment that occurs once every 176 years. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL, which built and operates the spacecraft.
NASA's Deep Space Network, also managed by JPL, enables communication with the distant probes. The mission is funded by NASA's Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
