Now we know for sure. The solar system is big. Really big.
NASA confirmed it today with the announcement that the Voyager I spacecraft has finally left it. It’s now in the “vast, cold emptiness between the stars,” the space agency said. The next time it reaches a star will be tens of thousands of years from now.
It was a long trip from Terra Firma. How long?
When it was launched:
Pete Rose still had nine seasons left in his career, and was a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.
The Panama Canal still belonged to the United States
He was in his first year in office.
So was he.
He was a month away from the start of an uprising that would depose him.
One of these would mail a first-class letter:
He was still five days away from “jumping the shark.”
We were still two years away from being able to use our new 300 baud modems to access this…
It was seven years before this upstart would challenge the market.
Virginia Wade was winning Wimbledon…
The Vikings were in a Super Bowl, setting a record for the most losses.
And she had just turned 16, and hadn’t met her prince.