The Farthest

With all the horrors and depressing events going on currently in the world, it is refreshing to be reminded of a human endeavour that was wholly positive in outlook and execution. The Farthest is the story of the two Voyager space crafts which were launched way back in 1977. These probes were tasked with two objectives - to explore the outer planets and to carry messages to other potential life forms deep into interstellar space. At one point in the late 70's it became possible for this mission to be achievable, a time which occurs approximately once every 175 years where Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are aligned in such a way as to allow a space craft to travel between them using the gravity of one to propel it onto the next. This window of opportunity was grabbed and NASA formulated the Voyager programme, with Voyager 1 navigating the first two giant planets and Voyager 2 following behind but adding the final two to its trajectory.

Its genuinely quite an incredible story. Especially when you remind yourself that this extremely complex, technical and frankly unprecedented undertaking was achieved using mid 70's technology. In 2012 Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to leave our solar system and reach interstellar space, having orbited all four of the giant planets taking a series of incredible pictures of them and their moons. It achieved this with computer memory a tiny fraction of what can be found in a modern smart phone. Its bordering on a miracle that this mission was accomplished, especially when you learn that certain moments were executed with split-second accuracy, a fracture of a second more would have led to destruction, such as the moment where the probe was propelled between the atmosphere of Uranus and one of its moons. It's all the more impressive when you discover that the probes were re-programmable via communication with a craft which was over a billion miles away. It was in summary one of the greatest undertakings humans have ever executed.

The documentary takes a fairly traditional talking heads format where we hear recollections of various scientists involved in the programme. Its these moments themselves which add a considerable amount of emotional weight to proceedings, making it clear that these space probes were ultimately far more than scientific equipment, they represented something far more and quite wonderful. It's not just the scientific angle of the mission but also the philosophical, such as the moment late in the mission that the cameras were reversed to look back at Earth which was now a pixel, making it clear how small we are in the universe while simultaneously making us realise that we need to look after our small planet as this little dot on a picture is all we have. There is some considerable detail given to the golden record, which contains the music, sounds and imagery of Earth. The music ranged from Mozart to Chuck Berry (with The Beatles foolishly refusing one of their songs), the imagery constitutes about one hundred pictures which attempted to convey the world as much as possible. This alien contact element of the mission was unsurprisingly given a lot of publicity at the time but it is only now that the probe has finally left our solar system that this has become the whole mission. But really, the imagery of the four mysterious giant planets is the real pinnacle of the Voyager missions and the incredible imagery that it captured remains quite extraordinary. These probes will more than likely hurtle onwards through deep space at 10 miles per second for billions of years long after our planet and sun are gone, and that says it all really.

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.

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.

Informative, entertaining & breathtaking, The Farthest chronicles the history of the Voyager program & its dual space probes, a mission that was undertaken to study the outer planets of our solar system & the space beyond but has become an enduring legacy of mankind in the infinite realm of the universe that will live on as our remnant even after our species, our planet & our star is long gone.

Written & directed by Emer Reynolds, this documentary is narrated in a way that piques our curiosity & intrigues our ever-inquisitive mind, and covers the journey of Voyager 1 & 2 through the recollections from the crew responsible for making the mission an extraordinary success. Employing interviews, archive footage, CGI simulations & some of the breathtaking images these probes took, the film really acquaints the viewers with the wonders of space & importance of its exploration.

The documentary goes into detail with how this mission came to be, the golden record & its significance, the close-calls it survived and how the probes continue to defy expectations even today, becoming the first man-made objects to leave solar system & enter interstellar space. From Jupiter to Neptune, each planet & their moons are explored in fine detail. And the film not only looks at it from a scientific viewpoint but also offers a philosophical perspective. And it's accessible throughout.

Overall, The Farthest is amongst the most fascinating documentaries about space exploration and is one illuminating ride that aptly reflects the passion, intimacy & enthusiasm of the crew behind the Voyager program. Their testimonies lend solid weight & emotional depth to these scientific instruments, plus the fact that these space probes are most likely to outlive its inventors makes them a valid contender for humankind's greatest achievement. My only gripe is that it's only 2 hours long, for I didn't want this mesmerising journey to end. In short, a humbling experience.

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!