The Voyagers have reached an anniversary worth celebrating

Tangled Bank Studios

Humans have launched some momentous missions of discovery into the universe. Yuri Gagarin reached orbit. The Apollo astronauts walked across the Moon. The Viking probes landed on Mars. But never before had a spacecraft visited four worlds in a single, grand tour as the two Voyager probes did in the 1970s and 1980s with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. And the story behind these two spacecraft, along with the people who made them fly, is utterly compelling.

Fortunately, on their 40th anniversary, PBS has produced a 90-minute documentary worthy of these missions. Featuring interviews with many of the principal scientists and imaging experts, The Farthest tells the story of how Voyager 1 and 2 were conceived, where they flew, and what they discovered while detailing all the drama in between. The documentary debuts on August 23.

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