Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery

“The saga of the Voyagers’ trek is carrying the inherited narrative of exploration to its outer limits,” writes environmental historian Pyne (How the Canyon Became Grand). By looking at the mission of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 and comparing it with past voyages of discovery on Earth, Pyne offers a unique and engrossing history of the Western world’s love affair with such journeys. The two space probes were launched on a “Grand Tour” of space in 1977; both are still traveling and returning data to Earth, with Voyager 2 leaving the solar system. Pyne calls the Voyager mission the hallmark of a “Third Great Age of Discovery,” similar to ambitious seagoing expeditions in the 16th and 18th centuries. As with those earlier journeys, Voyager was motivated by a mix of desires: military, political, economic, and a love of pure discovery. By narrating both the Voyagers and past voyages—such as Henry the Navigator’s—Pyne captures the Western passion for exploration and the lure of the unknown, while relating the fascinating story of two fragile spacecraft continuing after three decades their brave quest across space and time. Illus. (July 26)