In the 1960s and 1970s, Americans increasingly looked to the stars. Whilst the Space Race had already been won, our fascination with our universe and beyond was only just beginning. In an attempt to increase our understanding of our solar system, NASA launched the Voyager mission in 1977. Voyager 1’s objective included a flyby Jupiter, Saturn and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Voyager 2 was placed on a slower trajectory to take in Uranus and Neptune as well. Voyager 1 was re-directed after completing its initial mission, to join its sibling.
Emer Reynolds’s documentary, The Farthest, documents the mission with the help of twenty of the original and existing Voyager team. Forty years later, both probes are still going strong (with Voyager 1 became the first manmade object to experience interstellar travel). We get the inside story into the events which have furthered our knowledge of the universe and allowed us to see things we could only have dreamed of not too long ago.
Whilst the tone of The Farthest might be light and playful, it’s a fascinating and informative documentation of forty years of hard work, great scientific minds and a little luck. You can see what the achievement means to those involved and some of the pictures are breath-taking. The gold record onboard may have captured the limelight at the time, but it’s the science of exploration which is the real winner here. Although, Voyager 1 may carry the epitaph for the human race.
The Farthest is release on DVD and Blu-ray by Screenbound Pictures on 6 November.
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