Facts about Voyager 2 Interstellar Mission
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At its current trajectory, the Voyager 2 Interstellar Mission will pass within 1.7 light-years of the star Ross 248 in approximately 40,000 years.
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Power for the Voyager 2 Interstellar Mission comes from radioisotope thermoelectric generators fueled by plutonium-238, which decay predictably and allow instruments to operate decades from Earth.
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Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 carries a Golden Record containing sounds and images intended to communicate the diversity of life on Earth to any extraterrestrial intelligence.
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During its interstellar mission phase, Voyager 2 continues to return scientific data on the properties of interstellar plasma, magnetic fields, and cosmic rays beyond the heliopause.
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Voyager 2 remains the only spacecraft to have conducted close flybys of all four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
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The Voyager 2 Interstellar Mission crossed into interstellar space in 2018, making it the second human-made object to leave the heliosphere.