On September 5, 1977 NASA launched the second Voyager space probe, Voyager 1. Voyager 2 was launched two weeks before, but due to the orbital mechanics and relative velocities, Voyager 1 was the first to arrive at the two gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. Visiting the outer planets was Voyager's primary mission, but now both probes are set to investigate the heliopause. The heliopause is the known "border" of the solar system where the Sun's solar wind is canceled out by the interstellar medium. Scientists are still in contact with both probes through the Deep Space Network of radio telescopes. As of September 2008, it took nearly 15 hours to receive a signal from Voyager 1 at the speed of light.
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