The Man Behind the Voyager Missions Discusses the Role of Robotics in Future Space Exploration

The former head of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mike Sanders, will discuss how robotics will play a role in future missions. Sanders, who has been with JPL in some capacity since 1963, is a three-time recipient of NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal, for his work on the Voyager mission, Spacelab One, and the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C project. Since setting out on its original mission in 1977, Voyager I has given the people of Earth more information and breathtaking images of the giant gas planets of the solar system than ever. First Jupiter, and then Saturn and Neptune were demystified by Voyager I and II, launched 16 days apart nearly 30 years ago. The original missions long since completed, Voyager I has not stopped communicating with JPL as it hurtled toward the outer reaches of the solar system. On September 12, 2013, the vessel passed through the Kuiper Belt, officially leaving the solar system and is now more than 11.6 billion miles from the sun. February 6
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