Voyager

Voyager is a space exploration program overseen by NASA. Two identical probes were launched in 1977 to study the more distant planets in the Solar System. The four planets that the Voyager mission were originally slated to investigate were Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/voyager.html Their primary missions completed, the two probes are currently drifting out of the known Solar System. Both probes are expected to continue transmitting data until the year 2020.

On December 17, 2010, it was reported by NASA that Voyager 1 would offcially exit the Solar System within a few days. It will be the first man-made object to exit the Solar System in human history. It is estimated that both Voyager modules may outlive the Earth itself.http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cosmos-incognita-voyager

The Voyager mission made a number of new discoveries about the gas giant planets that were previously unknown to scientists. The modules discovered a total of 22 new moons between the four planets. New rings were also discovered for all four planets, with the first rings being found on Jupiter. For Uranus and Neptune, both modules were able to gain an accurate reading of the high magnetism of the planets. The Voyager missions also marked the discovery of the Great Dark Spot on Neptune.http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/voyager.html

Both of the Voyager spacecraft carry a phonograph record made out of gold. Messages of greeting and peace were recorded in 55 languages as a sort of "message in a bottle" for any intelligent life that may locate the Voyager probes. Dr. Carl Sagan headed the committee that oversaw the contents of the probes.http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=555