2024-06-28 11:00:14
The mysteries of the Universe continue to be revealed thanks to a probe that, following a period of worrying silence, is speaking once more. Voyager 1, NASA’s interstellar probe, is once once more delivering usable data from all its instruments. News that delights the community scientist following several month of uncertainty.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
It all started in November 2023, when Voyager 1 stopped transmitting consistent data due to a technical problem affecting one of its three onboard computers. It wasn’t until April that engineers managed to identify the problem, thanks to a command sent to the probe’s Flight Data Subsystem (FDS), allowing the first message readable following four months of silence. The source of the failure was a simple computer chip. Using commands sent from Earth, engineers modified the FDS code, gradually restoring marche Voyager 1’s scientific instruments. In May, two of the four instruments began sending usable data once more, and following further adjustments, theensemble instruments are now working normally.
However, the mission is not fully recovered. Engineers still need to resynchronize the timing software, which is essential for the simultaneous execution of commands by the three onboard computers. In addition, maintenance work on the probe’s digital recorder, which stores data from the PWS (Plasma Wave Science) instrument, is required to ensure optimal operation.
Voyager 1, located more than 24 billion kilometers from Earth, is sailing in interstellar space, a region beyond the heliosphere, the protective bubble created by magnetic fields and solar winds. At this distance, each command sent takes 22.5 hours to reach the probe, and it takes just as long to receive a response, making each operation delicate.
Image NASA
With nearly 47 years of travel under their belts, Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 are the oldest space probes still in operation and the most distant man-made objects from Earth.
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