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There are so many fascinating things going on in your 'Astronomy' world Mona.

It is amazing to think Voyager has been up in space for 34 years and now it is en route to the Milky Way. On our planet things have changed and developed enormously during those years, and the article, and graphic, bring home at least some of what has been achieved in that time by a space craft communicating through a Deep Space Network. It all seems very impressive as well as very Star Wars.

Have you any idea what it is powered by to have been able to stay up there so long and, so far at least, show no signs of 'giving up'?

Journey into the uncharted voids of the Milky Way

Yes, Voyager 1 is the most distant ever human object, currently 119 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. It's near the edge of the heliosheath, the bubble of charged particles emitted by the Sun. Beyond that is interstellar space. To find out more about the Voyagers including their distances (continuously updated), see this website: Voyager website

A unique feature of both Voyagers is that they carry an old-fashioned phonograph record with greetings in a few dozen Earth languages, a selection of sounds of Earth, music from a variety of traditions, and pictures. All of the material was assembled by a team lead by Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan compared it to a message in a bottle thrown into the sea. If you want to find out more about what's on the record and the instructions for playing it, have a look at: Golden Record.

The Voyagers are powered by something called radioisotope thermoelectric generators. They should last until 2025 since only essential systems are left running. Since there is almost no friction, they are able to keep moving on their outward journey without fuel.

Voyager is now over 11 billion miles (18 billion km) from home, but still within the heliosphere. You can see that in this diagram: Voyager 1.

At a distance of 120 astronomical units (AU), Voyager is beyond the Kuiper belt and the scattered disk.
But the scientists know it's still in the Solar System by the type of radiation it's detecting. The levels of cosmic radiation have been increasing, but there's only been a gradual drop in the number of energetic particles from the Sun. When it's passed the Sun's protective shield, there should be an abrupt drop in the number of solar particles.

Voyager 1 is now so far away that it takes 16 hours and 38 minutes for its data to travel to Earth.