A distance to experience
Voyager 1: understanding distances between stars
Voyager 1 travels about 17 kilometres each second. At that speed, how long would it take to reach Proxima? Compare Parker and light.
Try the three speeds →One shared destination: Proxima
The destination is Proxima Centauri, about 4.25 light-years from Earth. At this precision, variation due to Earth’s orbit is negligible. A light-year is a distance: the distance light travels in one year. A light signal therefore takes about 4.25 years to travel from Earth to Proxima. This signal does not represent a crewed spacecraft.
Parker: about 6,600 years under our assumption
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which studies the Sun, reached a rounded record speed of 692,000 km/h near the Sun in December 2024. If that speed were maintained for the whole Earth–Proxima journey, arrival would take about 6,600 years, or about 83 lifetimes of 80 years. In 80 years, only about 1.2 % of the journey would be covered. Parker is not heading towards Proxima; its near-Sun record is not an interstellar cruising speed.
Voyager: about 75,000 years at 17 km/s
Voyager 1 is a NASA probe launched in 1977. We choose a rounded reference speed of 17 kilometres each second, about 61,200 km/h relative to the Sun. At constant speed over the same distance, the journey would take about 75,000 years, or about 940 lifetimes of 80 years. A duration of 80 years would cover about 0.107 % of the journey. Voyager 1 is not heading towards Proxima. This is neither its planned trajectory nor its current position.
What changes when you use the experience
All three speeds keep the same starting point and destination. The slider changes only elapsed time, from zero to 80 years. The coloured part of the journey retains its real proportion. The boxes make total time more tangible: one box represents one 80-year lifetime for Parker; for Voyager, lifetimes are grouped and the caption states the number per box. The last box may be incomplete. With light, the signal has already passed Proxima once the chosen duration exceeds 4.25 years.
Method, scope and sources
Time is calculated as distance divided by constant speed. We use c = 299,792,458 m/s and a Julian year of 365.25 days. The model does not simulate acceleration, braking, navigation or obstacles, and does not claim to describe a feasible mission. The 80 years serve as a comparison lifetime. Probe speeds are rounded reference values, not live tracking data.
This journey’s references
Sources and method
Dimensions and conventions are those of the fact sheets linked above. Illustrations remain interpretations. Providing a documentary source does not independently certify every catalogue value.