Checkout this beautiful map illustrating where our probes have been so far in the solar system:
http://wanderingspace.net/2009/10/50-years-of-space-exploration-map/
There's a zoomable version at:
http://books.nationalgeographic.com/map/map-day/2008/09/18
Very nice. Checkout the scale at the bottom, you'll see Voyager 1 at 10 billion miles (16.5 billion Kms) way past Pluto's orbit heading into interstellar space and this is the first human made object to leave the solar system. It was launched in 1977 and is still transmitting! No batteries onboard, the probe is powered by Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator
which should generate electricity for the probe till 2025, at this distance from the sun, solar panels don't work. I think if ET finds the onboard golden record they should have a box office sellout at the movies on their planet! ;-)
Attached photo: Suncat getting ready for the Manly fast ferry service.
