No more nonsense Voyager 1 sends readable data from deep space | NASA | Voyager 1 | NASA

[The Epoch Times, April 24, 2024](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Li Yan) NASA stated that “Voyager-1” has once again transmitted usable information back to Earth. For the past few months, the detector had been in a “gibberish” state.

“Voyager 1” is currently about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away from us, making it the furthest spacecraft from mankind. The detector is 46 years old and has shown a variety of anomalies and signs of aging in recent years.

In November last year, a computer glitch prevented Voyager 1 from transmitting readable data back to Earth. The telemetry modulation unit of the Flight Data System (FDS) simply sent an illegible code repeatedly. But engineers have now fixed the issue.

On April 20, Voyager 1 reported safety to Earth. The mission team received the first consistent data on the health and status of the probe’s engineering systems that day, and it is operating normally and in good condition.

“The Voyager 1 spacecraft is transmitting back usable data on the health and status of its onboard engineering systems,” NASA said in a statement.

“The next step is to enable the spacecraft to start sending back scientific data again.”

So far, Voyager 1 has only sent back health data about its onboard systems, but further work should bring scientific instruments back online.

Due to its vast distance, Voyager 1’s radio messages took a full 22.5 hours to reach Earth.

The aging spacecraft’s recent troubles have been blamed on damaged chips (wafers).

This prevented Voyager 1’s computers from accessing a critical piece of software code used to package information for transmission to Earth.

For a while, engineers were unable to get any information from Voyager 1. However, they knew the spacecraft was still receiving their instructions and was otherwise operating normally.

Engineers were able to resolve the issue by moving the affected program code to a different location in the detector’s computer memory.

Linda Spilker, Voyager project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said in a statement last Saturday (April 20): “Today’s announcement of Voyager 1 “It’s a great day. We’ve restored communications with the spacecraft and we’re looking forward to the return of science data.”

“The mission continues”

Voyager 1 left Earth on September 5, 1977, a few days later than its brother spacecraft Voyager 2.

The pair’s main goal is to survey Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They completed this task in 1989.

They are then directed toward deep space, roughly in the direction of the center of the Milky Way.

Their electrical power comes from radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). The generator converts the heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. The ongoing decay process means that the generator produces slightly less electricity each year.

How long the Voyagers can continue to operate is uncertain, but so far engineers have been able to come up with ways to keep them running for a few more years.

In 1990, NASA extended the mission again, this time with the goal of sending the probe beyond the heliopause (the boundary where the sun’s solar wind encounters the interstellar medium and stagnates). Voyager 1 arrived at the border in 2012, while Voyager 2 arrived in 2018 due to its slower speed and different direction than its sister ship.

As of now, they are the only spacecraft operating outside the heliosphere, well beyond the orbit of Pluto. The heliosphere is the thin outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere, a magnetic bubble that surrounds and protects the solar system.

Over time, both spacecraft encountered unexpected problems and disruptions, including Voyager 2 being unable to communicate with Earth for seven months in 2020. In August 2023, staff instructions inadvertently pointed the spacecraft antenna in the wrong direction, causing it to fail to work properly. Eventually, the mission team used long-range “shout” technology to restore communications with Voyager 2. The spacecraft is currently just over 20 billion kilometers (13 billion miles) from Earth.

The team estimates they are still weeks away from receiving scientific data from Voyager 1, and they are looking forward to seeing what the data contains.

“We never know what will happen with Voyager, but I’m always surprised when they keep going,” Suzanne Dod, Voyager project manager, said in a statement. “We’ve encountered a lot of anomalies, and they’re getting harder and harder. But so far, we’ve been lucky enough to recover from them and the mission continues. Young engineers are joining the Voyager team , contribute their knowledge to ensure the mission continues.”

Although both travel at more than 15 kilometers per second (9 miles per second), neither will be able to approach the other star for tens of thousands of years.

Editor in charge: Lin Yan#