In a pleasant office park in California the last scientists of the Voyager project follow two explorers in space, Voyager One and Two. In 1977 the two were launched to take advantage of an alignment of the planets that occurs only once every seventeen years. First Voyager Two was launched in a southerly direction, then Voyager One in a northerly direction. At that time, the number of people working on the projects numbered in the hundreds. Now, some forty plus years later the number is eleven.
Over the years the world has been amazed and astounded by the pictures sent back to earth as the probes journey through our universe, as they sling shot off each planet to gain the power to move on to the next. The probes were also able to confirm the theory of the heliopause, a sort of stretchy boundary between our solar system and the next one, when they pushed through it on their way beyond our planetary worlds. That they are still functioning all these years later is nothing short of magnificent.
We get of close up of the people still working on the data being sent back to earth, each one intelligent and committed to their task, and learn a little about their lives. The group is varied, includes men, women, people from the U.S., Mexico, South Korea, and South America. They seen to function well together and love the work. They know at some point they will no longer get messages from the explorers, it is inevitable. Until then, they will give the program everything they have, this has to be one of the most successful scientific explorations ever undertaken.
I cannot stress enough how wonderful this film is. It would be a crime to miss it.