Months of uncertainty and somber predictions have given way to renewed hope as NASA has finally re-established communication with the Voyager 1 space probe, located approximately 15 billion miles from Earth. The probe, which has been operational since 1977, has faced technical difficulties that hindered its ability to transmit valuable scientific data back to Earth. However, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has confirmed that Voyager 1 remains in good health. Through “inventive sleuthing,” they have identified the issue affecting the probe’s ability to transmit data and are working to implement a fix that will reroute communications “around” the malfunctioning chip. For the first time since November 2023, Voyager 1 is once again transmitting usable data about the status of its onboard systems. The legendary probe began transmitting digital gibberish on November 14, 2023, although mission control could still discern that the spacecraft was receiving their commands and operating normally. In March 2024, Voyager engineers pinpointed the source of the issue to the probe’s flight data subsystem (FDS), one of Voyager’s three onboard “computers,” which is responsible for packaging scientific and engineering data before transmitting it back to Earth via NASA’s Deep Space Network ground receivers. NASA engineers have now discovered that one of the chips within the FDS is not functioning, affecting a portion of the FDS memory, including some of the system’s software code. However, NASA cannot physically replace the chip due to the probe’s remote location billions of kilometers away. Instead, the US space agency has devised a plan to relocate the affected code elsewhere within the FDS system. This involves dividing the code into different sections and storing it in multiple locations within the FDS. NASA emphasizes that this is a complex plan, requiring careful adjustments to ensure that the code will still function as intended. Engineers will commence the relocation of the affected code in the coming weeks, after which Voyager 1 is expected to resume sending usable scientific data back to Earth. The Voyager 1 space probe was launched on September 5, 1977, with a mission to study the outer Solar System over a span of three to four years. After transmitting spectacular images and valuable data about Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn’s moon Titan, Voyager 1 is now journeying through interstellar space beyond the Sun’s heliosphere. This remarkable milestone marks a new chapter in the Voyager 1 mission, which continues to provide invaluable insights into the vast reaches of our universe.
NASA Reestablishes Contact with Voyager 1, Prepares to Retrieve Scientific Data
