Old Voyager 1 sends surprising response after being ‘nudged’ by Earth

(CNN) — Engineers have given the Voyager 1 probe a “nudge” and received a potentially encouraging response as they hope to fix a communications problem with the aging spacecraft that has persisted for five months.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, venture through uncharted cosmic territory with the outer reaches of the Solar System.

While Voyager 1 continues to transmit a constant radio signal to its mission control equipment on Earth, that signal has not carried any useful data since November, one of three computers aboard the spacecraft Voyager 1. indicates a problem with one.

A new signal recently received from the spacecraft shows that NASA’s mission team is making progress in its quest to understand what Voyager 1 is experiencing. Voyager 1 is currently the most distant spacecraft from Earth, at about 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles).

Meanwhile, Voyager 2 has traveled more than 20.3 billion kilometers (12.6 billion miles) from our planet. Both are located in interstellar space and are the only spacecraft that have operated beyond the heliosphere, the Sun’s magnetic field and bubble of particles that extends far beyond Pluto’s orbit.

Initially designed to last for five years, the Voyager probes are the two longest-lived spacecraft in history. Their exceptionally long lifespans mean that both spacecraft have provided additional information about our solar system and beyond decades after achieving their initial goals of flying by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune .

But both probes have faced challenges as they age.

breakdown of cosmic communication

The mission team first noticed a communications problem with Voyager 1 on November 14, 2023, when the flight data system’s telemetry modulation unit began sending a repeating pattern of codes.

Voyager 1’s flight data system collects information from the spacecraft’s scientific instruments and combines it with engineering data that reflects Voyager 1’s current health status. Mission control on Earth receives that data in binary code, or a series of ones and zeros.

But since November, Voyager 1’s flight data system has been stuck in a loop.

The spacecraft could still receive and execute commands transmitted from mission equipment, but a problem with that telecommunications unit meant that no scientific or engineering data was transmitted to Earth from Voyager 1.

Since the problem was discovered, the mission team has attempted to send commands to restart computer systems and learn more about the underlying cause of the problem.

The team sent a command, called “poke”, to Voyager 1 on March 1 to cause the flight data system to run different software sequences in case a problem arose due to some type of malfunction.

On March 3, the team noticed that activity in one part of the flight data system was disconnected from the rest, confusing data. While the signal was not in the format the Voyager team is accustomed to, when the flight data system was working as expected, a NASA Deep Space Network engineer was able to decode it.

The Deep Space Network is a system of radio antennas on Earth that helps the agency communicate with the Voyager probes and other spacecraft exploring our solar system.

According to an update shared by NASA, the decoded signal included a readout of the entire flight data system memory.

According to a blog post, “The (flight data system) memory contains its code or instructions for what to do, as well as the variables or values ​​used in the code to perform commands or depending on the state of the spacecraft.” can change.” NASA. “This also includes scientific or engineering data for downlink. “The team will compare this reading to the reading that appeared before the problem occurred and look for anomalies in code and variables to potentially pinpoint the source of the current problem.”

How do the Voyager probes still work?

Voyager 1 is so far away that orders sent from Earth take 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft. Additionally, the team will have to wait up to 45 hours to receive a response. The team is currently analyzing Voyager 1’s memory readings after beginning the decoding process on March 7 and finding the readings three days later.

According to the space agency, “It will take time to use that information to figure out potential solutions and try to implement it.”

The last time Voyager 1 experienced a similar, but not identical, problem with the flight data system was in 1981, and the current problem does not appear to be related to other failures experienced by spacecraft in recent years.

Over time, both spacecraft have faced unexpected problems and abandonment, including a seven-month period in 2020 when Voyager 2 was unable to communicate with Earth. In August 2023, the mission team used long-range “shout” technology to re-establish communications with Voyager 2 after a command inadvertently pointed the spacecraft’s antenna in the wrong direction.

As the older twin Voyager probes continue to explore the universe, the team is gradually shutting down the instruments of these “senior citizens” to conserve energy and extend their mission, Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd previously told CNN. Was told.