Voyager 1 – A Love Letter
The tiniest voyager on the greatest mission there has ever been
In September 1977, almost fifty years ago, two probes were launched into space – Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
Their missions were to explore the outer planets – Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus – and they did so, brilliantly. But then they headed towards deep space, further and faster than any human-made thing before them. This is the story of Voyager 1.
Tiny Voyager, Mighty Mission
Tiny Voyager started life during Lockdown. My friend Joan Haig ran a wonderful project to create a free ebook for children stuck at home, and asked if I would contribute a story. I tried to imagine the very opposite of being stuck at home – being as far away as anything could be – and it became a little story called Stepping Out. In researching Voyager and its journey, I fell in love.
Voyager 1, a tiny explorer no bigger than a car, is twenty-five billion kilometres away. It has crossed the heliosphere and reached interstellar space. And it is still – after almost fifty years – talking to us and sharing what it sees. Voyager's story is everything I adore about science. It's breathtaking, wonderful, a triumph of engineering and science and the sheer thrill of exploration. It is hope.
“My power is fading,” I wrote. “Soon I will lose contact with Earth. It is forty thousand years to the next star.” And then:
“I am not afraid.”
And now, thanks to the folk at Moon+Bird, I'm getting to share Voyager's story as a non-fiction picturebook! Beautifully illustrated by the wonderful Shane Tolentino and released worldwide in time for Voyager's 50th anniversary – I cannot wait to share its adventures with the universe.