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27 June 2012 Last updated at 09:32

Voyager spacecraft reaches 11 billion miles

An American spacecraft launched 35 years ago could be about to leave the solar system altogether.

Currently around 11 billion miles away, Voyager 1 will be the first craft to be that far from the earth and beyond the reach of the sun.

Scientists know Voyager must be futher away because they've have noticed big changes in the cosmic rays hitting it.

That suggests it's in a new region of space and no longer protected by the sun's magnetic field.

Voyager 1 has been in space for 35 years, taking photos of the Earth and other planets in our solar system.

Ed Stone from the California Institute of Technology said: "This is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's final frontier."

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