Jupiter, in true colors

"Interstellar space is filled with material ejected by explosions of nearby stars" Stone added. "and Voyager 1 will be the first human-made object to cross into it".

Voyager Project Manager Ed Massey of JPL says the survival of the two spacecrafts is a credit to the robust design of the spacecraft, and to the flight team, which is now down to only 10 people.

"But it’s these 10 people who are keeping these spacecrafts alive. They’re very dedicated. This is sort of a testament to them, that we could get all this done".

Between them, the two Voyagers have explored Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune, along with dozens of their moons. In addition, they have been studying the Solar Wind, the stream of charged particles spewing from the sun at nearly a million miles per hour.