WHEN WILL VOYAGERS 1 AND 2 REACH EXACTLY 1 LIGHT DAY FROM EARTH?
24 hours = 1440 minutes
Both Voyagers are headed in different directions at different
speeds, so the dates where they both reach a light or signal
time of 24 hours are widely separated. In this case, the time
difference between the events is nearly 9 years.
THE FOLLOWING COMPUTATIONS WERE COMPUTED ON 2025-OCT-12-SUN
VIA THE NASA/JPL HORIZONS API
=================================================================
VOYAGER 1:
Date__(UT)__HR:MN:SS, Date_________JDUT, , , 1-way_down_LT
2026-Nov-17 00:00:00, 2461361.500000000, , , 1439.74276855
2026-Nov-18 00:00:00, 2461362.500000000, , , 1439.86657188
2026-Nov-19 00:00:00, 2461363.500000000, , , 1439.98846530
2026-Nov-20 00:00:00, 2461364.500000000, , , 1440.10843736
2026-Nov-21 00:00:00, 2461365.500000000, , , 1440.22647741
2026-Nov-22 00:00:00, 2461366.500000000, , , 1440.34257554
2026-Nov-23 00:00:00, 2461367.500000000, , , 1440.45672244
-----------------------------------------
Derived Lagrangian Interpolation Table 1:
Light_Time vs JDate
1439.74276855 2461361.5
1439.86657188 2461362.5
1439.98846530 2461363.5
1440.10843736 2461364.5
1440.22647741 2461365.5
1440.34257554 2461366.5
1440.45672244 2461367.5
Light Time = 1440 Minutes (24 Hours)
at JDUT = 2461363.595452058
= 2026-Nov-19-Thu at 02:17:27.058 UTC
2026-Nov-18-Wed at 21:17:27.058 New York Time
=================================================================
VOYAGER 2:
Date__(UT)__HR:MN:SS, Date_________JDUT, , , 1-way_down_LT
2035-Oct-30 00:00:00, 2464630.500000000, , , 1439.51994751
2035-Oct-31 00:00:00, 2464631.500000000, , , 1439.69796512
2035-Nov-01 00:00:00, 2464632.500000000, , , 1439.87545799
2035-Nov-02 00:00:00, 2464633.500000000, , , 1440.05239208
2035-Nov-03 00:00:00, 2464634.500000000, , , 1440.22873372
2035-Nov-04 00:00:00, 2464635.500000000, , , 1440.40444970
2035-Nov-05 00:00:00, 2464636.500000000, , , 1440.57950730
-----------------------------------------
Derived Lagrangian Interpolation Table 2:
Light_Time vs JDate
1439.51994751 2464630.5
1439.69796512 2464631.5
1439.87545799 2464632.5
1440.05239208 2464633.5
1440.22873372 2464634.5
1440.40444970 2464635.5
1440.57950730 2464636.5
Light Time = 1440 Minutes (24 Hours)
at JDUT = 2464633.203548626
= 2035-Nov-01-Thu at 16:53:06.601 UTC
2035-Nov-01-Thu at 11:53:06.601 New York Time
###########################################################################
These Date/Time values were obtained by 7-point Lagrangian Interpolation
based on the above Light Times values vs. Julian Dates tabulated at 1-day
intervals.
=========================================================
The Light/Signal time to Voyager 1 will reach 24 hours on
AD 2026-Nov-19-Thu at 02:17 UTC
AD 2026-Nov-18-Wed at 21:17 EST New York Standard Time
--------------------
2026 November
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
=========================================================
The Light/Signal time to Voyager 2 will reach 24 hours on
AD 2035-Nov-01-Thu at 16:53 UTC
AD 2035-Nov-01-Thu at 11:53 EST New York Standard Time
--------------------
2035 November
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
================================================
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PREDICTED DATES AND TIMES
EndDate − StartDate = 3269.60833334 days
8.9518835659 Gregorian years
3269 days 14h 36m
467 weeks 14h 36m