The Farthest

Humankind may do some stupid things, but it can also claim remarkable achievements. Among them are the Voyager probes that have been exploring the outer reaches of our solar system since 1977. The stunning monochrome images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune emphasise our insignificance. But the imagination and ingenuity behind the technology capable of recording and transmitting such information and of harnessing the gravitational pull of the planets to catapult the spacecraft into the next stage of their journey are every bit as humbling. Director Emer Reynolds plays it safe by lacing the interviews with members of the Nasa team with archive footage, CGI simulations and the odd self-consciously arty shot of our own fragile planet. Yet, for all its visual potency, her film's strength lies in the awed enthusiasm of the scientists and engineers who conceived, designed and shepherded Voyager 1 and 2 and also had the brilliant idea of including in the payload a golden disc containing 115 photographs, greetings in 55 languages, animal sounds and 27 musical clips from around the world, among them Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode. Accessible, inspirational and utterly fascinating.