@NASA How it works: Voyager 3 flies into distant space but goes into a state of hibernation when not near a star. The probe will be solar-powered, and will run on NiMH batteries, and when near a star, will turn on and search nearby planets for signs of life. If it finds any, it will signal back to mission control what it found and how it got there, as well as broadcast radio signals to the planet to attempt to establish contact. Once the probe has marked the planet, we could send in others to perhaps land or orbit it.
