The Farthest

I was privileged to see this amazing documentary as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival in Christchurch, NZ. If you are enraptured by astronomy, physics, drama, tragedy, philosophy of science, or just amazing stories, don't miss this documentary. And if you're not, still see it and be prepared to change your mind. The documentary traces the whole story of the two Voyager missions to the outer planets of the solar system (and now beyond), from its earliest planning stages through to lift off and then all the incredible and unexpected discoveries since. The audience clapped loudly at the end of the showing, and deservedly so. Three cheers for the romance of science!

This documentary tells the decades of discoveries led by a group of scientists and the two Voyager probes.

The images are beautiful and literally out of this world. It is great to see so many interviews of scientists who were involved in the process. There is a lot of inside information, such as the opposition to taking a final photo of the solar system at the end of the mission. I got moved to tears many tints, because this mission is beyond humanity, beyond space and beyond time.

The Voyager mission is one of the most interesting in of all NASA. Two spacecraft which have been functioning since their launch in 1977, the year I was born, are still sending data as they race outside of the Solar System. This film is telling the story of the mission and the people that worked in it and how important this mission was for the knowledge and identity of our species. The quote that stuck in my mind was "We've gotten away with it!", said by one scientist as he described his enthusiasm of the launch. I mean, here are these super smart people, planning ahead for decades one of the first and few real spacecrafts we humans have ever built, and what they feel is that they slipped it under the nose of their government and nation and species. I loved every one of the scientists that contributed to the show, their youthful enthusiasm so contrasting with their advanced ages, revealing the light in their hearts.

The film was a bit too long, at two hours, and maybe it would have been more powerful as a mini-series instead. It goes through the excitement when it first reaches Jupiter, then Saturn, then the bitter sweet moment when Voyager 2 reaches Uranus at the same time that Challenger explodes and finally Neptune. Another quote was about how small color dots from the Earth telescopes turn into worlds when Voyager goes past the planets.

I love all of these documentaries, which show who worked passionately to make things like these happen, to truly further humanity against all odds and against its mostly indifferent members, shows that really show the worlds around us and expand our horizons. If you love space, you should see this.

In 1977, NASA launched Voyager1 and Voyager2. They traveled to the lesser-known outer planets and some of the moons orbiting them. The planets' rare alignment made it an opportune time. Carl Sagan is the driving force behind the golden record of earthly sounds which became the media focus.

This is slightly better than most PBS hour long specials. It's actually 96 minutes and packs an emotional punch. The wide-eyed poetry of exploration is well presented. This is a lot things. It's an underdog story. It's a scientific documentary. It's an exploration thriller. It brings back all the great discoveries. This could be great for inspiring a high school science class.

This is an excellent documentary showing the achievement of a team and a piece of technology that launched from our planet in 1977. Imagine if our public money internationally was all so well invested and intrusted to such competent people. Great Irish film making also.