NASA spacecraft are 30 years old

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is marking the 30th birthday of its two Voyager spacecraft as they head toward interstellar space.

The missions of Voyager 1 and 2 are ongoing odysseys, marking an unprecedented and historic accomplishment, NASA said.

The Voyager spacecraft were launched in August and September 1977 and both are still returning information from distances more than three times farther away than Pluto.

"The Voyager mission is a legend in the annals of space exploration," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "It opened our eyes to the scientific richness of the outer solar system, and it has pioneered the deepest exploration of the sun's domain ever conducted.

"It's a testament to Voyager's designers, builders and operators that both spacecraft continue to deliver important findings more than 25 years after their primary missions to Jupiter and Saturn concluded."

Voyager 1 currently is the farthest human-made object at a distance from the sun of about 9.7 billion miles. Voyager 2 is about 7.8 billion miles from the sun, NASA said, noting each spacecraft travels approximately 1 million miles per day.