The Farthest Things Humans Have Sent into Space

New Horizons is currently 8.7 billion kilometers (5.4 billion miles) away from Earth. Launched in 2006, this spacecraft's primary mission was to explore Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Even now, it's still sending back data as it journeys further into the unknown.

Pioneer 11, now 16 billion kilometers (9.9 billion miles) away, was launched in 1973. It was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn. Today, it’s so far from Earth that its signals can no longer reach us.

Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972 and is currently 20 billion kilometers (12.4 billion miles) away. It was the first spacecraft to reach Jupiter, opening the way for future exploration of the outer planets.

This year, Voyager 2 overtook Pioneer 10, making it the second-farthest human-made object in space. Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is now 20.5 billion kilometers (12.7 billion miles) away, continuing its journey into interstellar space.

Voyager 1 is the most distant object ever sent by humans. Launched in 1977, it’s now over 24 billion kilometers (14.9 billion miles) away—four times as far as Pluto is from the Sun. It's the first human-made object to leave the solar system, but even at this distance, it’s only 0.6% of the way to the next nearest star. The universe is so vast, and we are so small.

These five spacecraft show just how far we've come in our quest to explore the universe. But even these incredible distances are just a small step in the grand scheme of the cosmos. The universe is unimaginably vast, and we are just beginning to explore it.

Stay tuned,

BREEFX ✨

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