2023-08-01 19:34:33
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Data communication with the spacecraft was interrupted following a command error, but should be able to be restored, the US agency said on Tuesday.
Published on 08/01/2023 21:34
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An illustration of the Voyager 2 spacecraft launched by NASA. (MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRA/MGA/AFP)
The Voyager 2 probe, sent into space in 1977 and currently located 19.9 billion kilometers from Earth, is in “good health”, reassured NASA on Tuesday August 1, following having mistakenly interrupted contact with its mythical ship. The probe “transmits once more”said the US space agency on social networks.
Orders sent on July 21 “inadvertently pointed the antenna two degrees away from Earth”she explained in a press release July 28. This error caused the interruption of data communication. But it should be restored thanks to an automatic reorientation maneuver in October.
An attempt to reorient the antenna
However, scientists have tried to ensure the good health of the ship before this distant date. THE “pulse” of the probe was detected thanks to the use of the “deep space network”an international network of antennas, said Suzanne Dodd, in charge of the mission at NASA, to AFP. “So we know the ship is alive and operational. That made us happy”she added.
A command has since been sent by this same means in an attempt to reorient the antenna, but the probability that this will work is “weak”, she clarified. In which case, it will be necessary to wait until October for the exchange of data to resume normally.
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