Like a Spear from the Earth

In 1977, NASA launched a space probe whose mission was to study the outer solar system and beyond. Over 30 years later, Voyager 1 is the farthest man-made object from earth, and one of a handful of other such objects close to leaving our solar system and entering the vast desert of interstellar space. Equipped with an unusual time capsule with artifacts of intelligent life from earth, Voyager 1 is hurdling at over 38,600 miles per hour into the big, empty unknown. In the great darkness, it is a beacon of light thrown by mankind.