Voyager 1, launched by NASA in 1977, is the farthest human-made object from Earth. As of now, it’s over 159 astronomical units (AU) away from the Sun, with 1 AU being the distance from Earth to the Sun. This means Voyager 1 is nearly 159 times farther from the Sun than Earth is!
Voyager 1, along with three other probes—Voyager 2, Pioneer 10, and Pioneer 11—is one of only four spacecraft leaving our solar system. While Voyager 1 has already entered interstellar space, it still has a long journey ahead before reaching the next major milestone: the Oort Cloud, a theoretical sphere of icy bodies surrounding our solar system. This cloud is thought to start at about 2,000 AU. At its current speed of 3.6 AU per year, Voyager 1 would take more than 500 years to reach it!
So, while Voyager 1 is far from Earth, it’s still relatively close when considering the vast distances of space.
