Voyagers 1 and 2 were built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and launched in 1977 on a mission to the outer planets. The Voyagers are now headed out of the known Solar System to whatever lies beyond. Using a gravity boost from Jupiter (a possibility calculated by Mike Minovitch at the JPL in the early 60s) the probes will slingshot into interstellar space and hopefully give us our first good look at the space between star systems.
In the meantime, as they pass the outer planets, they continue to beam back striking images of Jupiter, Saturn's rings, Neptune and Uranus, as well as all of these planets' strange and various Moons.
Radio signals from the Voyagers are collected by giant dishes 64 meters in diameter that are spread around the world to ensure continuous contact with the probes. These dishes are part of NASA's Deep Space Network and are monitored around the clock by the JPL.
The Voyagers are equipped to measure cosmic rays, low-energy charged particles and magnetic fields. They carry cameras, infrared radiometers, ultraviolet spectrometers and antennas for studying interplanetary radio emissions.
The Voyagers also contain a message for extraterrestrial civilizations. A gold-coated phonograph record is attached to each craft. Encoded in the audio spectrum are greetings in 54 different languages, Earth sounds, 11 pictures representative of humans and our planet, and 90 minutes worth of music from around the world.
