NASA Digest, Vol 51, Issue 15

	August 30, 2017  MEDIA ADVISORY M17-099 NASA and Iconic Museum Honor Voyager Spacecraft 40th Anniversary An artist concept depicting one of the twin Voyager spacecraft. Humanity's farthest and longest-lived spacecraft are celebrating 40 years in August and September 2017. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum will celebrate 40 years of the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft -- humanity's farthest and longest-lived mission -- with a public event at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 5. The observance will take place at the Smithsonian's museum located at Independence Avenue at 6th street SW in Washington. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website. Activities will include panel discussions about the Voyagers' creation and mission history, their unprecedented science findings and imagery, impact on Earth's culture and how the spacecraft inspired countless scientists, engineers and the next generation of explorers. The event also will include a galactic message transmitted toward the Voyager 1 spacecraft by a celebrity guest. The Voyagers' original mission was to explore Jupiter and Saturn. Although the twin spacecraft are now far beyond the planets in the solar system, NASA continues to communicate with them daily as they explore the frontier where interstellar space begins. Participants in the Sept. 5 event are: ·      Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington ·      Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, Caltech, Pasadena, California ·      Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena ·      Gary Flandro, Voyager Mission Grand Tour creator, University of Tennessee, Knoxville ·      Alan Cummings, Voyager researcher, Caltech ·      Ann Druyan, writer/producer, Golden Record Visionary ·      Morgan Cable, researcher, JPL ·      Eric Zirnstein, researcher, Princeton University, New Jersey ·      Matthew Shindell, curator, National Air and Space Museum Media interested in attending should contact Alison Mitchell at mitchellac@si.edu or 202-633-2376 or Amy Stamm at stamma@si.edu or 202-633-2374. The public also can ask questions on social media using #AskNASA Commemorative posters for the mission, celebrating the Voyagers' launches and journeys, are available at: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/downloads/ For more information on Voyager, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/voyager and https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov
	Press Contacts Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov Karen Fox Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-6284 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov Elizabeth Landau Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-6425/818-359-3241 elizabeth.landau@jpl.nasa.gov