In 1977 NASA launched the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft on the most astonishing journey of discovery since Magellan sailed around the world. Over the next twelve years the two spacecraft studied all the giant outer planets, their moons and their ring systems.
They were originally designed to study Jupiter and Saturn, and built to last for five years. But both craft have been operating for more than 10,000 days and are now heading out into interstellar space.
In May 2003 Voyager 1 had reached a distance of 13 billion kilometers from the sun — half a light day — and in early 2005 reached the HelioSheath, the final boundary of the solar system.
As an engineer, I find the Voyager mission especially inspiring. If NASA can have the imagination and skill to build and launch the Voyager spacecraft, then surely I can and should build something I'm proud of.
John