SPACECRAFT
Voyager 2
Launched August 20, 1977 · only spacecraft to visit all four giant planets
Distance from Sun
21,576,257,459 km
144.2 AU · 13,406,864,821 mi
Distance from Earth
21,584,508,396 km
144.3 AU · 13,411,991,716 mi
Speed
15.0 km/s
54,166 km/h · 33,657 mph
One-way light time
20h 0m
Reaches 1 light day: Nov 1, 2035, 17:30 UTC
Angle against the ecliptic
Heading roughly toward the constellation Pavo, currently about 38.5° below the ecliptic plane — a nearly constant angle, since both Voyagers are now moving essentially radially outward from the Sun. Left the heliopause on Nov 5, 2018 and is now in interstellar space.
Mission facts
| Days since launch | 17,956 (49 yrs, 1 m, 28 days) |
| Location | Interstellar space |
| Constellation | Pavo |
| Heliopause crossing | Nov 5, 2018 |
| Round-trip light time | ~40h |
| Power source | RTG, decaying ~4W/yr |
Deep Space Network link
| Dish | DSS34 · Canberra, Australia |
| Direction | Downlink |
| Signal type | Data |
| Data rate | 160 bps · bps = bits per second · 350 times slower than a 56k dial-up modem |
| Band | X-band · 8,400–8,450 MHz |
| Signal power | -160 dBm · 100 billion times fainter than a typical WiFi signal (-50 dBm) |
Instrument health
| Instrument | Status |
|---|---|
| Cosmic Ray Subsystem (CRS) | Active |
| Low-Energy Charged Particles (LECP) | Off — power-saving since Mar 24, 2025 |
| Magnetometer (MAG) | Active |
| Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS) | Active |
| Plasma Science (PLS) | Off — power-saving since Sep 26, 2024 |
| Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) | Off — power-saving since Oct 10, 1989 |
| Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer and Radiometer (IRIS) | Off — power-saving since Feb 1, 2007 |
| Photopolarimeter Subsystem (PPS) | Off — degraded performance since Apr 3, 1991 |
| Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) | Off — power-saving since Feb 21, 2008 |
| Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) | Off — power-saving since Nov 12, 1998 |
Not live telemetry — transcribed from NASA's own status page, updated by hand when it changes. Source: science.nasa.gov